Diary of a Chaos Marine
by 1292 Negative Calculate
Summary: NOT THE SAME AS Thefallenheart's STORY, OK?  This is a chronicle of the misadventures of a Chaos Space Marine, as he meets terrible monsters, fights dangerous foes, and paints his precous tank!  Chapter 14 re-uploaded.
1. Days 1 thru 17: Mission to Janilum

Just so you all know, I own NOTHING!  
And this is NOT a copy of Thefallenheart's story, ok? I got the inspiration from him, but I am NOT copying him! This is a totally separate story, involving totally separate characters!  
So no flames accusing me for stealing someone's work, ok?

Now that that's out of the way, enjoy my story!

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**Diary of a Chaos Marine  
**By: Danny Pic

Diary of a Chaos marine from an unknown traitor legion

Descended from unknown Gene-stock, but believed to be from Iron Warriors.

**Chapter Information:**

Chapter Origins: Chapter formed by individuals from various chapters and legions, including several from loyalist chapters.  
Battle Cry: None.  
Occupied Worlds: Runs a protectorate encompassing several star systems, including Janilum, Rho Pictaris, and K-Pax systems; base of op. is unknown  
Other Notes: chapter is more accepting than other traitor marine chapters; primary focuses include maintaining peace between protectorate systems, adding more systems to their cause, and "protecting the galaxy from the taint of the Imperial Churches"

**Day 1 of the year 424 of M40**

Feeling incredibly bored. Lieutenant Silas gave me this book to write in. Must remember to find new paint to recolor my armor.

.

**Day 2**

Decided to cure my boredom by checking out some of the old skeletons we've collected. Wow…I can still remember where most of these came from.

Here are two we got from the Space Wolves. Man, they were nasty.  
Oh! Here's an Eldar skull. Yeah, we were invading that planet, and took one of their heads.

The Lord called us up to brief us on some new arrivals. Said they defected to us from our recent mission to Dravis Prime. Lord Vetock said they hail from the Salamanders loyalist legion, and they're arsonists, specializing in flame weaponry.

Finally; now I don't have to waste time with matches anymore.

Komyn is stuck with showing the newbies around. Ha Ha Ha! Sucker!

.

**Day 3**

Our new "Firemen" have been introduced to the base and the C.O.'s by now. It'll take a while for 'em to know their way around HQ, but they'll be fine.

On another note, I can at last say that my new "toy" has arrived! I am now the proud owner of my very own Chaos Rhino. And what an excellent specimen she is! Spikes all along its sides, to make us more menacing! Missile launchers fitted with auto-targeting systems! Oh, my stars! I am in LOVE!

Alright now… calm down, boy. It's just a machine…  
…a very beautiful machine…

.

**Day 4**

Lunch was leftover Tyranid meat, and an "exquisite" glass of arsenic-laced wine. Ugh…

…I hate wine…

One of the newbie "Flamers" has been hanging around the garage, watching me work on my Rhino. It's a bit unsettling…

(BTW, I'm trying out different nicknames for the fire-boys. Wonder what everyone else thinks would be a good nickname for them…)

Yarp! Sorry, but I must stop for now. Our Dreadnought's crying out in despair again. I swear, there's just no helping that poor sod.

.

**Day 5**

Finally, the Dread calmed down a few hours after my last entry. Poor thing…he's so depressed.

His real name's Marvin. He hates being a Dreadnought. Marvin was critically injured in a battle against the Tau, and we had to put him in a Dread to keep him alive. Nowadays, however, he's just a big metallic box of depression. Some of ours have begun calling him "Dread Bring-down".

It's hard on the poor thing. For the loyalist Space Marine, being offered to become a Dreadnought is a honor; for the forces of Chaos, however, it's less pleasing. That's why it's very rare to see a Chaos Dreadnought at all – most of them go insane after a while. While our chapter has several Dreads that are perfectly fine with their state, Dread Marvin is one of the latter cases. I'm surprised he's lasted this long.

…anyway, I'm getting of-topic. Point is, Dread Marvin's fit of despair is over, and so I returned to working on my Precious – I mean, Rhino!

….what? I didn't call it "precious"! What are you blithering about?

…STOP IT! IT'S NOTHING LIKE THAT!

…fine, whatever. I'm going back to painting my ride. I'll write later.

.

**Day 6: 3 days until mission**

Excellent! Our first mission in weeks! And even better, my ride's just been finished up! She's now a lovely green-forest camouflage. They'll never see us coming!

…oh, wait…we're going to a cold, wintery forest planet?  
…crap. I'll have to repaint.

Our assignment this time is closer to home. We're responding to a distress call from the Janilum system. We move out in 3 days, and it'll take us a couple of days of warp travel to get there.

Now I'm sure you're confused: Chaos Space Marines? Going on a rescue mission? Well, don't be too confused; it's not as abnormal as one would think. Aside from our fights against our misguided brothers and other hostile races, our Chapter runs a Protectorate around here. Several planetary systems are under our supervision, and we do our best to maintain peace and stability among these worlds in exchange for resources, justice, and for any recruits who wish to join us. We're a just and honorable group; we're just against the Imperium.  
Not the Emperor – the Imperium.

I shall explain more later. Now, I need to ask around for folks who can help me re-paint my Rhino.

.

**Day 7: 2 days until mission**

The new firemen are excited. This is their first mission alongside us. I'm a bit surprised; I didn't expect them to be so excited, considering their background…

Anyway, the mission location is Janilum 7. As far as I know, it's a cold planet, covered in conifer forests and mountainous areas. There aren't many open places, because of the large forests, so as a result, Dread Marvin cannot join us. It's difficult to say whether this will be a good thing or a bad thing.

Our new pyrotechnics, on the other hand, are coming, as well as a group of weapons specialists. Three of our chosen warriors – or "Knights", as we've come to call them – will supervise the mission. The only vehicle that can actually operate somewhat efficiently is my Rhino, which can shelter innocent civilians from danger.

I'm so excited! My first mission in almost a month!

.

**Day 8: 1 day until mission**

We're finishing preparations. The Burninators (Ooh! That sounds awesome! But I think that's taken…) have gotten a bunch of propane, ready for their weapons. My preci– I mean, my Rhino, is now painted in a _lovely_ white-green camo design, and is all loaded up. Dread Marvin bade us a dismal farewell.

Our transport arrives tomorrow; we're being picked up by the frigate _Gwaltnian Scavenger_, one of our raiding ships. Unfortunately, our flagship, the _Crimson_ _Avenger_, is out for repairs, so we're stuck with using light cruisers. The ship will dock at our station, and we'll board from there.

.

**Day 9: Departure for Janilum 7**

At long last, the ship has arrived! We've moved our force to the docking station, and we need but wait until the frigate docks. Goodness, it's like waiting for a parade to come. It takes FOREVER to get here, but when it comes, there's shouting and cheering all around.

I'd explain more about how the docking works, but the _Gwaltnian Scavenger_ just docked, so we have to board. Onwards to victory!

.

**Day 10: 2 days until planet fall**

Well, we're on our way! All of us are on board, and we're currently inbound for Janilum 7. Ship navigator Aaseng says that it won't take as long as usual, because we're in a position to use solar sails, boosting our speed! Rock on!

Anyway, the navigator gave us about two to three days in the Warp until arrival. So we'll see if our newbies' resolve is as strong as their word.

.

**Day 11: 1 day until planet fall**

I've been assigned to bank near the hangars. So now I can enjoy hanging around these awesome dropships and small infantry transports!

Man…hangin' around here reminds me of those games I used to play a few years ago. I haven't touched those in so long, mostly because someone took my controller.

Hm… I never expected to see a vehicle with propellers in here. There are two…

…bored already. I wish I'd brought a book… or at least an iPod…

.

**Day 12: pre-Planet fall**

We're nearing the Janilum system now. Should be soon. Thank heavens! I was starting to think we'd never come!

Done some brushing up on the planet Janilum 7, thanks to the ship's data files. Janilum 7 is a fairly large planet, just slightly larger than Holy Terra. It's a cold planet, stuck in what many may call an "Ice Age lite". Ice caps cover much of the far north, and permafrost extends down to about 18 degrees from the poles. Closer to the equator, Janilum 7's "tropics" are more temperate, with snowy winters and summertime temperatures of around 70-76 degrees Fahrenheit. About 60% - 70% of the surface is covered in oceans, and the only grassland areas are found on the Equator.  
The people of Janilum 7 are a more primitive race; they've mastered basic gunpowder, but prefer swords and other bladed weapons. Monarchies are the only prevailing governments, and battles between kingdoms are not unheard of. But we try to avoid entering political battles like these.

Normally, we try to avoid political battles between kingdoms; this call, however, is serious business. There have been reports of a monster attacking a small town, and slaughtering many innocent civilians. It's possible that an enemy race is attempting an invasion; we're going to prevent any such incident.

We're landing near a small castle, called "H'rot". We're only sending a small party at first – only twelve or so infantry, two of the flamers, and a knight – to scout around and see what we're dealing with. If we have a real threat, we'll land the rest. If not, we'll try to solve the problem as best as we can. Until then, all we can do is wait.

.

**Day 13 **

.

**Day 14**

.

**Day 15: Planet fall**

Our Recon team finally reported in. Not an invasion, but serious enough to warrant attention. From what I gathered, king Rogarth recently built a celebration drink hall for his kingdom, to celebrate the day their ancestors first colonized the area. However, when the party began, a monstrous creature burst into the party and attacked, slaying most of the partygoers there.

The beast seems impervious to normal bladed weapons. One man tried to stab the creature through the heart, but the blade stopped as if it hit a tree or rock. The monster is threatening the integrity of the population. So we shall try to deal with this threat.

We'll send down some more troops, to try and either remove or eradicate the beast. I won't need to go down – no need to fight one monster with a tank. Sir Voshell has promised to tell me the whole story of the battle with this beast, "Krentel". I await his triumphant return with eagerness.

.

**Day 16 **

.

**Day 17**

Ok, _now_ they're sending me down.

Sir Voshell returned, and told us the situation. The good news is, the monster Krentel is dead. However, it has been revealed that Krentel was a juvenile. So now his mother, enraged at the death of her son, has become enraged at the townspeople, and has begun attacking out of vengeance.

So why do they call me, and not simply send back Voshell? Well, sources have informed us that Krentel's mother is a magical creature that sometimes takes human form, and has attempted to seduce men who come to attack her. And so, since I'm the only man in our group mature enough to be resistant to that sort of temptation, they've selected me to dispatch the beast's mother.

Sometimes, it sucks when you're the only one with manners.

Well, in any case, I'm preparing to slay Krentel's mother. I won't be able to write anything, so instead, I will hook up a neural memory recorder, to record my thoughts and feelings during battle. Here's wishing me luck! I'll have quite a story to tell, if I return.

End of Chapter 1


	2. Days 18 & 19: The Battle with the Mother

**Diary of a Chaos Marine  
By: Danny Pic**

**

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**

Hello again! Time for the next installment of my Chaos Marine's diary! Woot!  
Allright, before I get to the story, couple of things I wanna clear up.

First off, some of you were a little confused at some of the references I made in my last chapter – primarily, the references to present-day things, like iPods and GameBoys and stuff. Well, the way I looked at it was something like this – the businesses that make these things are very successful right now, and it doesn't look like they're having any problems that would cause them to disappear anytime soon. I mean, Apple recently released the wonderful iPad, and Nintendo's released the DSi, and is working on a plus-sized DS! So does it really sound unreasonable to find that these businesses are still operating several thousand years in the future?

Secondly, I would like to apologize if my style of writing isn't as entertaining as other authors. As I said, this isn't me plagiarizing Thefallenheart's story "Diary of a Space Marine". This is a different story, because there's a different author writing it. So if you expect to see elements of other authors in this story, I'm sorry. I'm just not that good at this writing thing. But I hope that you'll enjoy whatever else spawns from my weird ADHD-powered head.

Finally, I'm sure you're all curious to hear about the backstory of my chapter. Good – that means I've struck a good note! (Yay me!) Anyway, I'm going to say that I will explain what this chaos chapter is all about, but not just yet; if you don't mind, I wanna get a little further into the story before I reveal everything. First, we need to finish up on Janilum 7, and then get back to HQ.

Lastly, I OWN NUFFIN'! …so enjoy!

* * *

**Day 18-19: NEURAL LOG ACTIVE**

– Day 18 – -neural recording of memories and thoughts over designated period-

Ugh…tired…

…wish I had a jump-start. Man, I could really use one of those now…

Hm…maybe they'll have something in the mess hall that'll help me wake up.

Here comes Private Marx. Appears I spoke too soon about breakfast…

…well, off I go!

…

Hm… I wonder what this monster'll try to do. I know I should probably wait until I hear from the locals and Sir Voshell about the beast, but…I guess a part of me can't help but be a little curious…

…

In the hangar now. Our strategy's going to be a little difficult, compared to the usual landing procedure.

The biggest issue we have is that there's no room to land inside castle H'rot; the inner parts of the castle are filled with houses and shops and tons of other buildings. And we can't use drop pods, since those are only good for one-way trips, and there's no need to waste pods on a simple extermination mission like this.

So our plan is going to use a dropship. The idea we have is to be dropped off outside of the castle, and then make our way to the actual castle on foot. This is going to be a bit of an issue, considering that this is a heavily forested area.  
_(Seriously – the forest is literally smushed up against the walls. It's like the castle was wedged inside the forest.)_

Voshell's going to be coming along with me, to tell me about his battle with the younger beast, Krentel. There's a good chance that the mother will share some traits with her offspring, so his knowledge's going to really help.

Shuttle's launching now. Off to slay a monster!

…

Arrival at H'rot. Finally, that was long. The transport that brought us here couldn't land, because of the trees, so we had to jump off and work our way down.  
_(I know, a literal "drop"-ship. Ha ha.)_

I've brought some basic weapons, but our little recon group seems to still have some supplies. Awesome!

Temperature's cool; not freezing, but not overly warm. Kinda like an autumn day back home. It's somewhat relaxing for someone who's spent most of their time inside garages and around vehicles.

Hey! Some of the villagers are coming out to see us! Aw… look at the poor little things, dressed in rags…  
…*sniff*…Aw, I just wanna give 'em a big hug! *sob*

*sniff* Ok, back on track. *clears throat*  
Anyway, Sir Voshell directs us to the actual structure the king lives in. The gates open up, and we walk inside this long, decorated stone hall. After about a minute of walking and observations, we enter the grandiose throne room, where King Rogarth sits to welcome us.

Hm…you'd think that one would avoid boring things like meetings in a medieval society, but noooo….

**– – – SKIP – _ -~ – PLAY FROM AFTERNOON – – – – FIVE HOURS UNTIL SUNDOWN – – – –**

We are now sitting in out forest "camp" near Rogarth's drink-hall. Voshell's been telling me about the fight with Krentel. I'll have to remember to write it down, but I'll do that later. For now, I need to review the information I received.

Krentel was highly resistant to standard bladed weaponry. Bolters don't seem to do much, either – Voshell had to rip off the fiend's arm to slay it.

And I mean literally, _rip_ it off.

…_With his bare hands._

*whistles* Talk about hard-core, dude.

Anyway, so since Krentel was resistant to blades and bolters, it's logical to conclude that his mother will also be resistant to chainswords and bolters, too. The locals say that Krentel and his mother live in a deep, dark lake surrounded by "frosted" trees. _(I assume they mean that the trees have a slight coating of ice and snow.)_ They likely live in a large cave network, considering that Krentel is amphibious, and so may be his mother.  
Since the mother lives in the lake, and sightings of her haven't been as numerous as those of the youngling beast, it's likely she's more aquatic. So she'll have a terrain advantage, since she's lived in these caves, and therefore knows her way around. I'm going to need a strategy…

…or a LOT of luck…

...

**– – – SKIP 1 HOUR – – – –**

Well, it's time. Two infantrymen and a flamer are escorting me to the beast's lair. We're hoping I can come up with a plan to defeat this monster while we're going there.

That's right, folks. After a full hour of thinking, I still have nothing. Sir Voshell was all against sending me out without any form of strategy, but I told him it was ok. The lad's a very honorable man; he always makes sure it's a fair fight, and that nobody has an unfair advantage. It's nice, but at times, he can get a bit passionate about it.

We're nearing this rocky, mountainous area. So according to the locals, we should find…

…a lake! A big, deep, dark lake! Just like that! We found it!

…easy part's over…

I'm starting down towards aforementioned lake. It's a steep walk, not much trouble.

Hm…strange. Normally, one would expect to see a variety of wildlife around lakes. However, I don't see any creatures anywhere. No birds, no rodents or deer-goats…even the bugs are missing…  
…that's weird…

Alright, there's the lake shore. Anyway, I'm continuing on. My suit's been outfitted with an oxygen supply and re-breather. This way, I'll be able to survive underwater for a much longer time. Amazing how these old devices have changed…isn't technology incredible?  
Anyway, about my weapons. Since plasma won't have much effect underwater, we were stuck with refitting a powerfist, chainsword, and a bolter to work in water. Sure, they probably won't do much, but they're the only ones that we know will work, so I'm just going to have to made do, y'know?

My escorts are going to stay here, in case I need help. Heh…no use risking all our necks, right? Eh heh heh… yeah…wonderful…

…well, off I go.

...

– – – – –

It's been about five minutes. I'm totally underwater now, and the surface is several meters up. It's been a steady distance from surface to lakebed, so I'm expecting it to drop down sharply to the bottom of the lake.

…and there it is. The drop-off. Well, only one way to go now!

...

– – – – –

Ten minutes in. I'm still slowly scaling down the cliff-side, for lack of a better term, looking for a…cave, just like the one in front of me now! Awesome, maybe this is the place – **HOLY MACAROONS!**

…good lord, that fish came out of nowhere! I don't care what anybody says, that was a HUGE flippin' fish. Man…I'm way too jumpy. Anyway, now to the cave.

...

– – – –

Surfaced! I've surfaced inside the cave! Awesome!

Hm…well, I was right about there being a network of caves down here. Man, these things…it's like a labyrinth down here! There's an eerie ambient-sort of glow around here that lights up everything. I can see why this creature chose to set up here; this is totally awesome! If I live through this, I'm makin' this place a clubhouse.

Anyway, back to business…so wheeeerrre's momma?

Wait…I see a shadow…could this be her?

It's a woman. A normal, human woman, of average height and size for this place. She's dressed in blue, and wears a necklace with teeth which may belong to a shark or some type of fish.

I ask her if she is the one I seek, Krentel's mother.

…she says yes, and asks me if I've come to slay her.

"Isn't it obvious?", I reply.

She nods, but says that some men have come for…"other reasons", and then asks if I could be one of those men.

…ooooookaaay, creepy. I ask what she means by "other things", hoping that she's talking about something _other_ than what I think she's referring to.

She walks over seductively, right up to my face, places a tender hand on my chestplate, and says she thinks I know what she means.  
_(Crap - down on my luck.)_

I step away, and respectfully decline. The woman pauses with a confused look on her face; I can see she wasn't expecting that reaction. She tries again, probably to see if I'm seriously turning down her offer. This time, I draw my chainsword, and again decline.  
She's shocked; she really didn't see this response coming. Ha ha ha! All she can get out of her mouth is, "…Really?"  
I continue, saying that I appreciate her offer, but I came down here to do a job, not to mess around.  
_(Y'see? That's why I was chosen for this job. What do you think the other boys would've done?)_

She pauses, and then slowly nods, taking in my response. Finally, she says, "Very well. If you came here to fight, then so be it."

Here comes the pain!

She….she's changed. Now, she's a larger, more muscular monster. It looks kinda like a cross between a seal and a gorilla…but with very long fangs.

…of COURSE! Sure, there's never a cute monster to kill! No psychotic birds, no killer rabbits or mutant puppies – it just HAD to be this, didn't it?

She swings her fist down at me, but I dodge it. Wait – did she just crack the floor? Crap, man! That girl's got a heck of a punch! Yeagh!

Don't – nurg! – want her to et me in the – rruh! – water. Then it'll be a definite – grah! – loss for me!

Alright, here comes the chainsword, beast!

…

WHAT? How could she crush my chainsword?

Alright, fine. Let's try the bolter!

…

Crap! Nothing! Her skin's just too thick – I'm only making her angry.

Out of ammo! Ok, ditched the gun. Let's try a knife!

…

Again, nothing. I just slowed her down. Well, I can at least use this chance to get further away. She's got these dinky little back legs for her size and strength, so she's slower on land. Here, I'll run for this – Crap! Grabbed my leg!

WOOOOAAAH!

Oof!

Oooww…yarg… dude, she's got a really good arm on her. That's for sure – threw me across the room!

She's almost indestructible! How can I beat her? She's nearly impervious to injury!

Wait a second…what's that over there? A sword?

Well, better than nothing. Go!

…Got it! But here she comes! YAAAAARGH!

...

…

…ho-ho-holy flarp, man! I just sliced off her arm! But my knife didn't even scratch her. So why did...  
…this thing's gotta be charmed. This must be an enchanted sword; there's no other explanation.

Uh-oh, here she comes again! -SLASH!-

Eeeeew! I got monster blood all over my armor…  
…AWESOME! I'm a freaking bloody mess! Woohoo!

And the beast has fallen. She's in her human guise again, laying on the floor.  
Time to finish the job.

She looks pleadingly u[ at me, asking me to spare her  
…I apologize again. I have a duty to the peace of this and all of our protected worlds.

...

…

The life leaves her eyes as the sword plunges through her.

The deed is done; I've slain Krentel's mother. Now, there's one thing left to do before I leave.

Let's look around…there it is. There's another body here. Brown fur, webbed feet and hands, long toothed mouth…and missing an arm.  
So this is Sir Voshell's Krentel.

He already said that it wouldn't survive such a grievous injury, and that it must be dead by now. But in my experiences, I've learned that there's always margin for error. So I am ensuring that it will stay dead. His head shall return with me.

...

**– – – – SKIP SEVERAL MINUTES – – – –**

Nearing the surface now. I've brought the head of the monster Krentel, to ensure everyone that the beast is dead.  
I'm also bringing along the sword I found in the caves, and used to slay the mother. I'm certain that my leaders can decide what to do with it.

My backup's probably still waiting on the beach.

Oh! Heh heh heh… I see potential for a hilarious prank here! Ha ha!

Alright, let's find out. Tossing the head up…

…

Ha ha ha! OMG, it worked! They saw the monster's head shoot out of the water, and they totally freaked out! Ahahahahaa! Suckered!  
Ah, how classic…

I get them calmed down, and tell them that the mother is dean, and I made sure that the younger beast stayed dead. I might add that I'm still laughing over my prank here. Hah! Oh my lord, this is so fun! I should do this more often!

Well, anyway, my job's done here. I'll turn off the neural log; no need for it right now.

**– – – – MEMORY RECORD END – – – MEMORIES AND THOUGHTS RECORDED – – – POWERING DOWN – – – –**

End of Chapter 2

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Hey again! So hope you enjoyed my 2nd chapter! Now I'm finishing up on chapter three, and I'm trying to find a good starting point on Chapter 4.  
Sorry if it takes me a while to post them up. But anyway, Tootles!


	3. Day 19 thru 25: The Return Home

**Diary of a Chaos Marine  
By: Danny Pic**

Hello again! I know I haven't gotten any reviews at this time, but I figure if I continue, then I'll eventually get s'more reviews. Woot!

Anyway, so here's Chapter 3; the return home, and the prelude to the action, yo! Again, I must stress, **I OWN NUFFIN!  
Now…**enjoy! 8D

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**Day 19: Written Entry**

After my return, people were amazed and impressed. The townsfolk are hailing me as a hero right now. Oh my! I've never been hailed before! *_blush_* Ha ha ha…

Joking aside, I was summoned to the king's throne room. I was greeted by our Chosen and King Rogarth. Apparently, the king had doubts about my tale. He reasons that, if I _did_ kill Krentel's mother, then I should've brought _her_ head, right? I was honest in my response…I told him the head was too heavy and big to carry. I also pointed out that the king could always check my neural log, which also provides visual information.

Sir Voshell asked me how I managed to slay the beast, if no weapon of ours could penetrate its skin. It was then that I drew the enchanted blade, and presented it to them. I explained how I took it and slew the brutish creature with it, and also presented my theory that it might be a charmed or magical sword. When the wise King Rogarth examined the sword, his face indicated he believed me. He said he recognized it as a legendary, almost mythical, weapon. Apparently, te legends of these people spoke of "Malum", a "blessed" sword that could cut through any substance without so much as a scratch. He seemed convinced that this sword "Malum" was the blade that I found in the cave. He returned it to me, as thanks for saving his kingdom.

…sweet! I got a magic sword! W00T!

…

**Day 20: Departure**

The firemen are wasted from partying all night. Now the poor sods are stumbling around like they have three left feet! Hah hah!  
(_I know how the saying goes; that means you understand what I mean by "_three_ left feet"._)

Anyway, so today we leave Janilum 7 behind, and head for home. The townsfolk are throwing us a "Thank You!" celebration. We've even received some supplies from them! Aw, they're so sweet!

The _Scavenger_'ll pick us up in low-orbit, and we're outta here! Right now, however, we're waiting until a dropship comes to take us and my Rhino away.

Speaking of my Rhino, some of the locals are helping me out! They've got some skulls of their enemies, and are lending them to make the tank more menacing. So we're stickin' them on the spikes. Incredible!

Well, here's the dropship! _Adios_, Janilum 7!

…

**Day 21: 2 days to arrival**

Back in the hangar. It was nice to get some fresh air, but I'm pleased to be surrounded by metal and AC units again. Some things I could live without, however, anre these disgusting rations. I mean, come on! "_Salad_ _Jerkey_"? Who **eats** this crap? Ugh!

I'm too sick to write more. Ugh….I've gotta get this out…

…

**Day 22: 1 day until arrival**

Phew… glad **that's** over...  
That…that was horror…no mortal should EVER have to live through that…

…anyway, so I've noticed a big issue with our Rhino. In case you don't know, Chaos Space Marines instill fear into their enemies. Their vehicles and weapons are adorned with the heads and skulls of their foes, and splattered with their blood.

_Our_ Rhino is shiny, new, and clean.

…yeah. So we need to make it bloodier and scarier. But how? We can't just sacrifice people to pimp our ride.

Yes, you heard right – we aren't sacrificial. Our chapter values life, and we are sworn to protect it from anyone who would dare cause harm to it. Anyone.  
Even if it includes fighting our own bretheren…other Astartes…

We all share the same hatred…the same pain…the same mission…

…

**Day 23 – Arrival**

Back home again. The Chosen have gone to report to Lord Vetock. I'm sure I'll be called up in a bit to be debriefed.

For now, though, I have a more immediate concern: finding some red paint. See, I have come up with a possible remedy for my preci – I mean, our Rhino's cleanliness issue. We've already put on some skulls; all we need to do is make some fake blood! But to make it realistic, I need to alter the paint. I think we could work it with water, to make it more transparent and, y'know…liquid-y…  
…but FIRST, I need some red paint!

Ah…and there be the call. The lord wants to see me. BRB!

– – – – – – – – –

I'm back! Lord Vetock was keen to uncover the circumstances of our trip. He has reviewed my battle with the monster, and has allowed me to keep my new blade!  
But wait, there's more! I have been promoted! For slaying a monster on my own, I have been given the rank of "Lieutenant"! AWESOME!

Anyway, back to my Rhino. I might be a Lt. now, but I'm still Head Engineer and Mechanic. I've got work to do!

…

**Day 24**

Guess what! Our fire-kid admirer helped me find the red paint I needed! He even helped me mix it, and even painted some of the fake blood on our Rhino! How thoughtful!

So now, my precio – I mean, my Rhino has "bloody" spikes, stains, and skulls. Never thought we could make her look so frightening! It looks like we're setting up for All Hollow's Eve or something! Ha ha ha!  
(_I must remember to keep some more fake blood around, just in case we gotta re-paint._)

And if that wasn't fun enough, guess who managed to come back? Our old brothers Copperhead and Jarkov! Wow, it's been almost forever since we saw them last! Copperhead told us they got separated from us, and were lost near Caliban IV for a few months. They managed to sneak on a carrier, stowed away on it until they got to our sector, and then slowly planet-hopped their way home! Amazing!

I suppose I should write you a brief little summary on those two. Copperhead's one of our oldest marines. His memory goes back a few centuries, so he's got some experience. In fact, he's almost as old as some of the Dreads! The man's also a powerful source of wisdom; everyone listens to his advice. He's been with us for several decades now – before then, he served with the Chaos chapter of the Reborn. Nobody knows his original name (_heck, we don't even know if _he_ does!_), but we all call him Copperhead.

Jarkov is more of a brute, even for a Terminator. The best analog I can compare him to is an ancient creature called a mammoth; he's strong – he can bust through just about anything – , he's got a one-track mind (_not to say he's not smart, cuz he is_) , and he's antisocial. He's even got the big, mammoth tusks! He's very quiet, but he has his own way of getting his point across. He's our close-quarters specialist.

I'd write more, but I've got to stop now. We're throwing them a big "Welcome home!" party, and I wanna get a chance to talk with them! Yay!

…

**Day 25**

The party was a total blast! And anyone who knows me knows I don't usually say that about parties!  
I didn't have any punch or food (_you learn that lesson quickly_), but I did chat with Copperhead some! He congratulated me on my promotion, and was excited to hear about my little adventure, too! I was modest in my replies – there's almost no other way to act, when you're talking to a man who's slain much, much bigger things.

Anyway, afterwards Silus caught up with me. I thanked him for making my little book **PINK!**, and told him I'd return the favor soon. At that, he ran off, iggling like a hyperactive chipmunk.

He shall get his due…in time…

…

End of Chapter 3

* * *

So, how'd I do?  
I apologize for making this chapter so short; I kinda over-compensated, by making Day 26 a really long entry. So I'm going to stick that entry in with the next chapter.

Next chapter, some awesome action! Confrontation with … _another_ _Chaos Marine chapter_! **DUN–DUN–DUUUUN**!  
Keep tuned in for more excitement!


	4. Days 26 thru 31: The Berzerker's Attack

**Diary of a Chaos Marine  
By: Danny Pic

* * *

**

_Buenos dias, amigos! _And welcome to another exciting chapter of _Diary of a Chaos Marine_!

As I said before, I made Day 26 a bit, well…lengthy. Sorry, I just had a boatload of information to get in! I'm going to try to shorten it from my rough draft, so I don't bore you all to death. But don't worry, it picks up into the action after.

Also, I must warn you that this chapter does have a bit of graphic violence in it. So just to be safe, I've outlined where the part is.  
_**The warning will look like this when you reach it.**_  
If face-stabbing and death doesn't bother you, then feel free to read it. But if any of you like to avoid those parts, then just skip over it.

So, onwards to chapter 4: The Battle with the Bezerkers!

Again, I must stress, **I OWN NUFFIN!  
Now…**enjoy! 8D

* * *

**Day 26: Voshell's Challenge**

Oh…Emm…Gee! Today was very interesting, indeed! No missions yet, but we did have a visitor!

Now today started off like usual – ate some toast, read some, played a good game of poker with the firemen…y'know, casual business. Around dinner, however, things got interesting.

So we're all sitting at our tables – eating the usual crap they give us, and chatting about random stuff – when, all of a sudden, the doors slam open, and a Chaos Marine walks in! Now we know this guy's not one of ours, because his armor's not the same, drab, dirty swamp-green that we have (_his was like emerald!_). But the thing that I notice that most of the others didn't was a bejeweled gauntlet on his right hand. Now I've had some experience with other Chaos chapters, and I could tell that this guy was a magic user – a Chaos sorcerer.

So the sorcerer walks boldly up to Lord Vetock, who greets him and asks what brings him here. The sorcerer returns the greeting, and says he was brought by our name. Apparently, our chapter's gotten quite a reputation, and that caught this guy's attention, making him seek us out. (_Good; maybe he'll join us!_)

He says he has a game he'd like to play with one of us. Everyone takes interest in this. (_cuz we all like games!_)  
He brandishes a giant, rectangular, rusty old sword – I recognized it as an executioner's sword. (_You don't usually see those around, since most folks use axes._) –, and says that he challenges one of us to take that sword, and behead him. Whoever does so will then be obligated to find him by the 31st day, and let him "return the favor".

(_At this point, everyone _lost_ interest._)

The sorcerer asked if anyone was brave enough to play the game. Nobody answered. I heard a cricket chirp twice, followed by a loud stomp, and then more silence.  
After a few minutes, the sorcerer sighed, and started attempting to, well…tempt one of us into playing. Finally, and surprisingly, Lord Vetock stood up and said he'd play! Of course, he was stopped by Sir Voshell, the monster-killer. Voshell volunteered instead, explaining to the lord that the loss of a leader would be far more catastrophic than the death of one knight. The lord agreed, and Voshell took the Executioner's blade. He speaks briefly to the sorcerer, and then he hesitantly performed the deed. The mage's head popped off, and rolled away…

…then the sorcerer stood up, and picked it back up! He turns to Voshell, and congratulates him. He says that his name is Zarnox, and he lives in the Cloud Temple. Then he walks off, carrying his head in one arm!

…

Now tell me THAT is NOT awesome! I'm too tired to write more, so I'll continue tomorrow. G'night!

…

**Day 27: Mission 2**

All of us are chipping in to help Voshell find this "Cloud Temple" before the 31st. He's in this system, we know that much. The only problem is finding which planet he's on. It'd be easier, if our gas giants didn't have so many MOONS! Grah!

Anyway, I'd stay and help, but we're going on another call. It seems some Korne cultists have found one of our systems, and nearing our friends on Annespeare, in the G-Nox system. They're on the outskirts of the system, and Annespeare is the 2nd planet in a 6-planet system, so we've got some time to get there. Just some…

We're leaving right away. This time, Dread Marvin is coming with us, as well as Jarkov and Lord Vetock himself. Our librarian and Copperhead are staying behind with Sir Voshell, to help him find the temple and meet up with Zarnox. My preci – I mean, my – the Rhino is also coming with us; we need all the firepower we've got. Time to go.

…

**Day 28: 1 day in Warp**

We've taken the battle cruiser _Penitent Reclaimer_, our biggest battleship. We've also brought along two frigates – _Dauntless Pride_ and the _Scavenger_ – into our fleet; we want to ensure that these Berzerkers harm nobody.

Fortunately, we don't usually encounter too many _dangerous_ foes like this. Primarily, the only dangers we find are minor emergencies on planets and the occasional cultist raid, such as this. The only really serious fights we've ever had were a series of battles with the Golden Hawks– a loyalist chapter.

Hey! Don't look at me like that! THEY'RE the ones who invaded our protectorate first! Those misguided fools…if only they knew…

Anyway, that's another story. Right now, we're focusing on this raid. They won't see us coming!

…

**Day 29: Day of Attack**

We've arrived in orbit around Annespeare. Just in time, too – the cultist's ship is passing the third planet of the system, and drawing closer.  
They're far enough for us to pull off a neat battle strategy.

Our battle plan is similar to an old military tactic, but with an interesting twist. Our fleet will separate in a three-way split, and travel in opposite ways around the planet. They'll loop behind the planet, meeting back at the front just as the cultist's ship draws closer to the planet's atmosphere. The fleet will surround it, blocking it from escape, and fire at it until it is destroyed.  
Our ground plan is a countermeasure, in case the enemy attempts to land as we're assaulting it in space. We'll plant several squads in key positions – namely, populated areas – around the side where the enemy ship is. If any enemy troops land, the scouting parties will radio in, and our forces will deploy, quickly eliminating the hostiles before they have a chance to do too much damage.

Our forces are moving in position. The fiends shall not live to see another day!

-4 hrs later-

Time to go. Our trap has sprung – the cultist ship is cornered like a mouse. However, it launched several drop pods, which have landed near the city of Burdenstown. Sergeant Cre'mist encountered some berzerkers on the outskirts, so we're deploying right away. Silus is going with some of our arsonists and Dread Marvin. (_He was utterly depressed about it…_) Sir Dar'Shmirkt is taking some infantry, including Jarkov and I, with my Rhino to the other side of the city. To battle!

On the surface now. My Rhino didn't break, and now we finally have an opportunity to test-drive! W00T! Jarkov's walking alongside the tank, keeping pace. (_Terminators can't fit inside Rhinos!_)

Drove to a school. We're assuming that there are still people inside. Dropping off some of the troops to search for anyone; me, Jarkov, Lennox the gunner, and a fireman are staying outside to keep watch for intruders.

…and here they come. Three berzerkers and a terminator. Jarkov and Lennox are tag-teaming the terminator, while I chase the berzerkers that are running into THE SCHOOL NOW!

_**((Author's note: Here's where things get a bit gruesome, peoples. If you're into violence and bloody stabbity-ness, then feel free to ignore this. If not, then just skip down to the next little note like this, ok? DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YE!))**_

Got one before he got inside! BANG! Score one for me!  
Now, for the other two.

Chasing them down a hallway now.  
CRAP! A student just appeared! And the berserker just threw a GRENADE!

A teacher came out, grabbed the kid, and shoved him through the door, but she was caught up in the blast instead.  
(_This never gets any easier, watching these scenes unfold..._)

I caught up to him, but Lavernius beat me to him, and gunned the fiend down. One left – OOOOW!

…and that one just unloaded a plasma round in my back…ow…  
I managed to recover enough to gut him with Malum, but after that, I knelt out of the paaaaiiin….oooo-ho-hooow…..  
…it feels like someone stuck a white-hot metal rod in my back…argh…ow…pain…hurt…like….yarg….

…the cultist's still alive. I return the favor by stabbing his face once, and then withdrawing my blade. He fell down like a limp rag.  
(_I'm glad he had on his helmet, so I didn't have to see that ugly image…_)

_**((Author's note: Ok, I think here's where things start going back into PG-13 levels. Sorry, I don't want to gross out or freak out anybody who doesn't wanna read that stuff!))**_

That'll teach ya to slaughter the innocent, you cultist jerks…owch…pain…back hurts….

…private Lavernius's coming over to help me out. I'm having to lean on his shoulder while I stumble to the Rhino.  
It is not fun being shot at with plasma weapons…lemme tell ya…

…I'm in the Rhino now. I can tell we're driving again, but I dunno where we're going. Man…I can feel myself trying to black out…crap…

Just heard an explosion outside the tank…can't fall asleep…hurts…ow…

…I have to…help save them…

…

…

**Day 30**

…

**Day 31**

…

…

End of Chapter 4

* * *

Ooooh! Oh, I hate suspense, but I COULDN'T HELP IT!

Anyway, I hope everyone's ok, and that nobody was freaked out by my very first violent scene ever.  
I normally avoid that kind of stuff…but to be honest, I felt like it fit in this part of the story best. The idea had to come out. Sorry if any of you didn't like it.

Next chapter: Our hero is hurt! Is he alive? Who will write the journal if he isn't?  
Keep tuned in to find out!


	5. Days 32 thru 35: Voshell's Turn!

**Diary of a Chaos Marine  
By: Danny Pic

* * *

**

Welcome to another exciting chapter of _Diary of a Chaos Marine_!

Alright people, here's the scoop. This is going to be an interesting new idea I've had.  
For the first time, _another_ character will be keeping the diary! So hope you enjoy me trying to write as another character! :D

Again, I must stress, **I OWN NUFFIN!  
Now…**enjoy! 8D

* * *

**Day 32**

Greetings and salutations. I am Alexander Volkanus Plowinski Voshell, second-in-command of this Astartes renegade chapter, and a Chosen Space Marine.

The owner of this dia – I mean, um…"journal", is alright; however, he is currently in a comatose state, which may last for several days. Therefore, until such time that our brother awakens from his slumber, I have volunteered to keep records of current events in his, um…journal, so that he will have a grasp of what has happened recently.

Unfortunately, I am unaware of the events that the Head Engineer normally focuses on, so tonight I will read some of his previous entries of this dia – journal, and then catalogue such events. Until then, I shall write about two current events.

Firstly, our strike force has returned. The Battle of Annespeare was a success; Dread Marvin and the Rhino escaped relatively unscathed. Unfortunately, we lost two men in the firefight: Grayth Shardlow and Alun D'berevly. Their names and deeds shall be forever remembered. They gave their lives defending the innocent from the onslaught of the Khorne cultists. Lord Vetock brought their remains back with them; they will be buried along with their armor in front of the HQ center.

Secondly, I have returned safely from my visit to Zarnox's lair. Incredibly, he made no attempt whatsoever to slay me! Zarnox, surprisingly enough, was in the same chapter that I was before I joined my current chapter – even more so, he is really Zornak, my best friend! I always thought he had died in that fight with the Dark Eldar! Apparently, after that battle, he left the old chapter and went on to study magik, and eventually become known as Zarnox the sorcerer. He insists on going by his full title, "Zarnox the Not-Particularly-Special-or-Overly-Talented-in-Any-Way-Whatsoever". The whole "game" was really just him getting back at me for not looking for him. Ah, typical Zornak… Well, he and I have reconciled, and now Zarnox is allied with our chapter.

Incredible to think…I was once a member of the Golden Gryphons, among the most proud and loyal of the Imperium Loyalist chapters. And never, in all my years with them, have I ever had a tenth of the adventure I have gone through with this chapter.

Well, night falls now. So until the next morning, I bid thee good night.

…

**Day 33**

Today was relatively uneventful. This would mark the first day of the year when we are fully in autumn. The native species of batlings are beginning their annual migration south for the winter, so occasionally one may observe enormous flocks of thousands of batlings filling the skies above.

Also customary around this time of year is the construction of our bonfire. Every year – at this time of season, and providing we aren't away on a mission –, we work together to create a giant bonfire, which we all sit around and enjoy the warmth of the thirty-foot tower of flames.  
Today, we have begun construction. Brothers Jarkov and Liam have taken a makeshift "truck" out to collect the firewood, which we will arrange into a spire. Brothers Silus and Proctair, it seems, have gone to gather tinder – dead leaves and twigs, which help the flames grow. Our brothers from the Salamanders have gathered to work on a surprise. I attempted to ask them what it was, but they wanted it to remain a surprise until the end.

Some of the other infantrymen are also working on a surprise. Brother Krevash Larvoté, one of the youngest of the recently-turned Salamanders, has gathered some of our own, and together, they are creating a gift for our sick Head Engineer. They too wish to keep their surprise secret; however, from my observation, I saw some weapon parts, pneumatic pistons, treads for some type of rough-terrain vehicle, and a baked potato. I can't even _begin_ to guess what they plan to make.

Also, Lord Vetock and I have received news from elsewhere in our protectorate. On Janilum 7, in the kingdom we last visited, King Rogarth has been murdered. Suspicion has been placed on his son, who has fled the kingdom to another part of the continent. The late king has been succeeded by a local knight who claims to be a cousin to Rogarth. (_The knight's name wasn't given; the locals believe his name is "cursed", and feel that it would be bad luck to give it to us_.)  
On a brighter note, our neighbors in the Gorgue system have made a tremendous breakthrough for their people – they've sent their very first astronauts to their planet's moon and back successfully. They've given us a video of their momentous event, as a token of ratitude and appreciation; we plan to show it to the troops later tonight. I will make sure to show our sickly brother the video as well, whenever he awakens again.

…

**Day 34**

Our brother in the medical wing has now been comatose for almost a week. However, he has shown signs of recovery – he responds to slight irritations, like an insect crawling on his hand or a feather brushing against his nose.  
Coincidentally, brother Silus is now facing punishment for bringing a Spider-Mantis into the sick bay.

The bonfire is beginning to take shape. The frame has been established, and tinder is now being piled inside the base. The Salamanders' surprise is now clear – they have made a large amount of fireworks. They plan to pile them in the top of the structure, and then use the flames of the bonfire to make a "volcano" or "fountain" effect. Quite ingenious of them, really.

Dread Marvin interrupted the joyful mood by attempting to throw himself off of the HQ building. Luckily, he jumped in the way of our electromagnet, so we caught him before he could harm anyone. Unfortunately, the machine spirit of the crane now seems to have something wrong with it, so until we cure it, Marvin will be stuck dangling a hundred feet in the air. Poor Marvin…

…

**Day 35**

At long last, our head engineer has finally awoken from his slumber! He is feeling fully healed and energized; however, the doctor has requested that he remain in bed for one more day. The doctor is concerned, because the plasma round hit close to his spine, and he wants to make sure there aren't any unseen damages done. Therefore, I will continue writing until our brother is released.

Today went relatively slowly. The only event that warrants recognition, as far as I know, is the continued construction of the bonfire and the surprise for the head engineer. The bonfire is now over twenty feet tall, and it is almost ready to be lit.  
Brother Larvoté was keen to find when the head engineer would return from the sick bay. He said that he wished to speak with him concerning "a matter of business".

Aside from that, today was business as usual for most of us. I sparred with some of my Chosen brothers, and we read from the Holy Text together. We read several passages, and we each talked about what we gained from them.

Now I understand how some may be confused by this – that we, a renegade chapter of Chaos and regular Space Marines still read from the Imperium's sacred Bible. It's a perfectly excusable assumption – this is a behavior that contradicts how renegade and Chaos forces are depicted. Yes, we still heed the words of the holy God-Emperor, and we believe in his divine wisdom. However, what the Emperor says is not necessarily what the rest of the Imperium says.

Night is upon us. Now, I shall finish this entry, and will return it to our brother tomorrow. I bid thee good night.

…

…

End of Chapter 5

* * *

So how'd I do? Did you enjoy Sir Voshell's turn at writing?

Now after this, we'll return the book to the Head Engineer, so you'll have a familiar narrator the next chapter.  
In the next chapter, we discover what surprise Larvoté cooked up for our hero! And we'll also have an encounter that's, well… let's say "mechanical".

Keep tuned in, folks! And there's a review option, too, y'know…just sayin'…


	6. Days 36 thru 42: Presents and Allies

**Diary of a Chaos Marine  
By: Danny Pic

* * *

**

Hello there! Welcome to Chapter 6! Wheee!

Y'know, just as a side note, I'm actually up to Day 45 in this story, with my rough drafts. I started writing this story in the middle of September, I think, and now it's in the middle of November.  
So, in a sense, it's taken me 2 months to write 1½ months of diary! Lolz

Anyway, back to the story. In this chapter, the Head Engineer is taking his new friend to meet up with some really cool allies! But I'm gonna try to keep ya guessing who they're going to meet until the very end. ;)

Again, I must stress, **I OWN NUFFIN!  
Now…**enjoy the madness! 8D

* * *

**Day 36**

Hello again! I'm back. I apologize for being out for so long; that plasma round got me real good! Sir Voshell told me he'd been keeping my diary for me while I was out! How nice of him!

Yeah, the Med. Officer said that the plasma shot didn't look like it did any serious damage to my back, so I'm cool!

Immediately after I was released from my medical "vacation", I was lead to the Garage for a surprise. Everyone made me a new machine to play with!

They harvested some parts from a Dreadnought shell and Predator tank we collected from our recent mission at Annespeare, added some pieces of junk we had layin' around, and made me a little mech suit! It's like a mini-Dreadnought, but with a cockpit! How adorable!

And if that's not awesome enough, then this'll turn some heads: I HAVE AN APPRENTICE! Remember that little Salamander-guy– I think his name's "Krevahs Larvote", or something like that… – who's been hanging around here for a while? Well, he's asked me if I'll tutor him in the ways of the machine. We talked it over with the Lord, and he granted us permission! So now I have a student!

And I shall call him… "Gopher-boy"!

After the surprise, we all went outside, on our annual voyage to light the bonfire. At first, the fire started very slowly, and didn't burn so brightly…

…but then one of the Salsa-manders squirted a bunch of Propane in an opening, and then the blaze began in earnest! What surprised me the most were the fireworks! That was a neat effect, plus we haven't done it before!

But anyway, I'm super-excited about my new toy! The only bad news about it is that it's jerky and slow in movement. I'll need to work on it some, though, to make it run more fluidly.

And there's only one group out here who knows just as much about machinery as I do…

…

**Day 37**

Woke up early today. It's gonna be a really busy day today! Got a lot on my to-do list.

Firstly, I went over to wake up Gopher-boy, my new apprentice! (_I still get a kick out of saying that!_) I took him to the Garage, to talk him through the basics of mechanics. I told him about how machines function, about the machine spirit and its value and role, and covered basic parts of machines. I made sure to use the mech suit he made me as an example.  
Secondly, I explained how certain parts on the machine function – I covered pistons, pulleys, levers, and many of these simple machines. And as I did so, he began to notice mistakes that he had made in his design – primarily, the limited, jerky leg motion controls. That's good, just as I hoped; he's recognizing how to improve things for next time.

The rest of the day was spent working on the mech on our own – tinkering here and there, making minor adjustments and such. By mid-afternoon, we'd fixed almost 70% of the mistakes – the only ones left are too big to fix on our own. So I let gopher-boy go have fun the rest of the day.

As for me, I spent the last few hours of the day in the control room, trying to secure a ship and a good time to "ship off". Lord Vetock granted permission, but had me take several of our older members – some troops who've been with us for a while now – along for the ride.  
So, I've secured a transport, and booked a 2-way trip to the Krolt system. There, we'll meet up with some old, close neighbors of ours.

…

**Day 38**

The day has come at last. After our crummy breakfast of half-alive spaghetti worms (_yugh!_), Gopher-boy and I went to the elevator to get to the docks.

Ingenious design, the space elevator. The "tether" is a nearly-invisible rod of micro-carbon filaments, inter-woven into a threat-like structure – incredibly thin, but amazingly strong. We have a rocket-propelled lift system which shoots a platform up, carrying parts, men…y'know, important stuff.

The docks are pretty neat, too! There's a really neat back-story that comes along with it, too; see, I got inspiration from this one planet I saw back in my days with the Iron Warriors. We came across this planet with a space station built right into an orbiting asteroid! So I got inspired, and had a neat idea: take an asteroid, bring it into orbit, and then build a docking station from there! I'm surprised that none of the major aliens or human factions use these types of outposts. I mean, come on! Why make a space station from scratch when you have all these rocks out in space, eh?

Ah…but I digress. Anyway, my apprentice and I got to the docks and found our transport. Captain Trevick of the cargo transport _B17-BlackHeart_ has offered to bring us in his "lubbly bucket o' boltz". The crew's made up of marines that have background in space travel. We have pilots, traders, smugglers, even a chef!  
Just goes to show ya how diverse our chapter is.

Anyway, we've all loaded up in the ship; the mech suit's already been loaded up. Gopher-boy's sitting in an observation platform, and I'm hangin' in the…head-piloting….place…thiny….  
…I FORGOT THE NAME, OK! Gimme a break, jeebuz!  
Ugh…I'm sitting there, so that way I can explain what we're doing to anybody who asks. And, to make things more fun, we're not telling Gopher-boy who we're going to see! Lolz He's oing to FREAK OUT! Hahaha!

Well, off we go! TO KROLT!

…

**Day 39: 1 Day in Warp**

Our ride has one smoothly; now that we're in the Warp, it'll be a bit easier.

The only problem is the danger to the ship. As you can guess, we're in a cargo transport, which is about 2/3 the size of one of our military frigates. SO, if we're not careful, the ship could either a) be torn apart by the tremendous forces in the Warp, or b) collide with an oncoming ship.

…so yeah…gotta be careful…

...

**Day 40: 2 Days in Warp**

Nothing new. Some energy-based life is tailing behind us, likely feeding off our engine trail. Grah…bored…

…

**Day 41: 3 Days in Warp**

A bit of wisdom for any future generations who read this diary: you'll learn really quickly that Warp travel can get boring easily.

Never thought I'd ever get bored sitting down and doing nothing…but here I am…

…

**Day 42: Arrival in Krolt System**

AT LAST! HAHAHAHAHAAAA!  
Ah…I feared my brain would have lost its grip on reality before we made it here! FINALLY!

Now, for our surprise. We'll head to the 4th moon of Kreytoth; I believe there's an outpost of theirs on that moon.  
Heh heh… poor Gopher-boy's not going to know what to do…lolz

Ah, and there they are, right on time! Three Drones, coming to escort us. We're getting hailed.  
And Gopher-boy's freaking out! HAHAHA!

I've explained my case, and they've agreed to let us land on their HQ in this system, and use their mech labs to spruce up my present.  
Poor Gopher-boy's a jabbering wreck. Lol

It's nothing serious – most noobs freak out when they learn about our Tau comrades.

…

End of Chapter 6

* * *

Awesome! Did ya like it?

K, now tell me: when dija figure out it was the Tau? How soon was it?  
Tell me, please! I wanna know if I accidentally gave it away before I meant to.

Anyway, if ya wanna review, you know where the button is: bottom-left corner, near the "favorite" part.

Next chapter, we learn just how our renegade chapter managed to befriend the xenos!  
And we meet a person who's more experienced than the head engineer!  
That and more, in chapter 7! Stay tuned!


	7. Days 43 thru 47: Fun with the Tau

**Diary of a Chaos Marine**  
**By: Danny Pic

* * *

**

Hello there! Welcome to Chapter 7!

Alright, I'm sure any of you who've been following this story closely have been curious as to why I chose to include the Tau, since I had said before that Dread Marvin was seriously injured fighting them. I'm also sure you're all wondering what happened to the engineer's tank, and also what happened to Gopher-boy after his head was twisted inside-out.

Well, calm down, Earthlings! These questions and more shall be answered in this chapter.

Oh, and any _Hannah Montana_ fans who are reading this…I'm sorry. T^T

Again, I must stress, **I OWN NUFFIN!  
Now…**enjoy the madness! 8D

* * *

**Day 43: 1****st**** Day with the Tau **

Wow…it's already been a week since I was back in the hospital from that plasma wound…and now we're with the Tau…

I woke up early today. Hey, just because we're bunking with a bunch of aliens now doesn't change my work schedule!

Gopher-boy's feeling a bit better; he's slowly easing himself into the whole "good neighbor" concept going on around here. It was funny…he was going around all "gahwoka? Wheezely minky-burtsis?" HAHAHAHAHAA!

Anyway, back to business.

The Tau, for those of you too un-edjum-icated to know, are a relatively young race of technologically advanced aliens. The Tau forces first arrived here, under the command of one "Trus-Aun-Tiamut", in the early years of our chapter's existence. When we first encountered each other, we naturally turned to fighting one another, like humans and aliens usually do.  
(_In fact, this is around the time when Dread Marvin was so brutally injured, and was stuck in the condition he is in now._)

And it's likely that we would've remained fighting them today, had they not brought out one particularly important, and if I may say, powerful member of their Empire…  
That's right, folks. They brought out the Kroot.

When the Tau unleashed those avian death-machines, we had no choice but to stop fighting. Soldiers they may be, but the Kroot and their beasts are still a form of wild life; fighting them would've gone against all of our code of honor. The Tau stopped firing when we did, and we had to call off fighting. When the Tau and Astartes sat down and bean talking, we both realized that the doctrines we followed – our code to protect all innocent life, and their _Tau'va_, or "Greater Good" – were both very much alike. So in the end, we made peace with each other, and formed an alliance. Nowadays, both Tau and Marines fight together, to protect and preserve all life in the galaxy.

But that's all history; now, we must focus back on the present. So why did we come here?  
Well, despite utilizing the Kroot and their dinosaurian chicken-things of DOOOM!, the Tau are extremely adept at robotics and machines. So Gopher-boy and I are meeting up with the head engineer of the Tau in this region, Krolt Fio Chen, to see about fixing my present. Fio Chen – "KFC", as he likes to be called – is amazingly experienced! The guy makes me look like a 6th-grader!  
Never would've thought to use a gyroscope, honest and true…

And it's not just me; Gopher-boy's learning things also! He's looking at other places to inspire him. So even if he doesn't realize it, KFC's actually teaching 2 people!  
Well, I best return to the machines; this is incredible!

…

**Day 44: 2****nd**** Day with the Tau**

OH….MY….GOD…

…the food here…it's...

…it's worse than the rationed meals we ate back at HQ…

I still ate it, though – better to eat crappy food than show any disrespect. To be honest, I don't know everything about how Tau manners are, so I don't want to potentially jeopardize an alliance by losing my lunch in front of any respected individuals.

After those traumatizing meals this morning, Gopher-boy and I spent most of the day working with KFC to fix the mech suit. These Tau engineers are incredibly gifted, when it comes to technology. **Earth Caste rocks**! (_No pun intended._)

…

**Day 45: 3****rd**** Day with the Tau**

A Kroot Hound got into the garage while we were working. We helped the Tau corral the creature back out of the garage, and back into its area.  
(_We named it Freddy._)

Also, one of the Air Caste thought it'd be funny to play on old song by Miley Cyrus over the Intercom. It was pandemonium until a Fire Caste general-type guy cut it off and dragged off the airhead who put the song on.  
KFC told me that he found it inconceivable that a human was actually dumb enough to write a song called "Super-Super Girl".

My reply was, "You think _you've_ got it bad? Try living with the fact that she was one of your own race."

At that point, KFC gave me a hug.

Well, after that awful event, we diligently resumed our work. KFC's using a Tau battlesuit as a basis for the modifications. The controls for both the battlesuit is alien, naturally, but the mechanics and functions are very similar to our mech. All I'd need to do is translate the controls, and we'd be done!

…

**Day 46: 4****th**** Day with the Tau**

I felt a little sick this morning. No doubt it was from a full day of eating that food. KFC noticed my weariness, and started asking me why I was feeling so bad. I tried to resist, but he kept prying and prying until I eventually came out and said that the food was gross. Surprisingly, the alien wasn't offended at all! He reasoned that, "since your Gue'la biology is different from ours, it only makes sense that you couldn't stomach the food here".  
He added to my relief by adding that even _he_ thought the food was gross.

So, while my gut feels like it's been cut out and run through a sanitation facility, I'm more relaxed about not liking the food; not I know it's not just me. And, as a little favor, KFC let me keep a bucket with me, in case I got a bit too sick. What a nice guy!

Y'know, it's occurred to me that I really have no idea why the Imperium has such a distrust of these aliens. I mean, they're so polite, kind, and understanding! In fact, I don't see any reason they're fighting with each other at all! KFC and Gopher-boy share my opinion – what's the point of it? Heck, they even teamed up to defeat Hive Fleet Gorgon, right? So what's keeping back an alliance now?

…

**Day 47: 5****th**** Day with the Tau**

Alright, folks, I've got good news and bad news.

The good news is that at long last, the mech is finished! Now it looks like the offspring of an Imperial Dreadnought and a Tau Stealth Suit. How ADORABLE! KFC and I even came up with a name for it: "Phalanx". It's powerful, noble, brave… I likes it!

The bad news is, now we can't go back. It seems a Warpstorm has appeared in the area near the Krolt system, and it's preventing us from leaving.  
Now in case whoever is reading this diary knows (_Face it – at some point in time, somebody's going to read it._), a Warpstorm is an energy wave that causes a fluctuation in the Warp. It can be caused by anything – black hole, supernova, high-velocity star, colliding galaxies…pretty much anything big enough. It's not dangerous, unless you're _in_ one. If you're in real space, then they won't hurt you. The only real problems they cause are dealing with Warp travel. See, even if you somehow survive the extreme forces and stresses in a Warpstorm (which you won't), the extreme fluctuations and forces which come with one can cause you to change paths or even dimensions; in other words, there's no telling where you'd end up! You could end up inside of a star, or even on the other side of the galaxy!

So yeah, Warpstorms are pretty serious for travel. They usually don't last very long, but until it passes and the Warp stabilizes, Gopher-boy and I are stuck with the Tau. So after a bit of thinking, we figured – well, more accurately, _I_ figured (_Gopher-boy's still new to this_) – that we'd be more useful by assisting the Tau, helping them fight their enemies and such. Hey, beats sitting their being lazy, eh?

So we talked it over with KFC, and he was delighted with the idea! SO we three talked to the Epitaph leader in charge here, and he said that he liked the idea of another genius engineer!

So now we're helping the Tau with their missions for the time being.

And look! It seems we have our first assignment!

…

End of Chapter 6

* * *

So, what did ya think?

Yeah…to be honest, I only realized my slip-up as I was on the bus, reading my older chapters over. There I saw that I had blamed the Tau for Dread Marvin's state, so I had to make that quick modification to the story. But the plan was always an alliance with the Tau.

Next chapter, we tangle with one of the deadliest forces of evil out in the galaxy!  
What will happen to our heroes?  
That and more, in chapter 8 of _Diary of a Chaos Marine_! Stay tuned!


	8. Days 48 thru 50: Battle with the Necrons

**Diary of a Chaos Marine  
****By: Danny Pic

* * *

**

Hello there! Welcome to Chapter 8!

Alright, this time we face off against possibly the closest thing to Terminator that one can get in this universe.  
(Oh darn! I hope I didn't just give it away!)

Well, anyway, hope you all enjoy!

Again, I must stress, **I OWN NUFFIN!  
Now…**enjoy the madness! 8D

* * *

**Day 48: 6****th**** Day with the Tau **

We're loading up, people! The Tau of the Myana system have reported sightings of Necrons on the fifth moon of Myana V. They fear that they might organize themselves and launch an assault on the sept Mya'to, so they've called the Tau here to take 'em out. Necrons… the evil from below…

So, as I said before, we're loading up, too. The Epitaph Xoin Aun M'yen has granted me and Gopher-boy permission to aid the mission. The Tau Fleet leaves soon…and we with them! The Phalanx is being loaded up now in a Tau battleship.

The Warp Storm hasn't let up yet, but we're hoping the Tau might not be affected by it…

…

**Day 49: 7****th**** Day with the Tau**

We're on route to the Myana system! Yay!

Now, I'm sure someone out there's wondering, "Hey! I thought you couldn't travel through a Warp Storm! How are the Tau Traveling?"  
Well, the answer is quite simple, really. We aren't exactly traveling _in_ the Warp. See, the Tau have a different method of interstellar travel. Instead of moving in Warp-space, as most races do, the Tau do a sort of "Warp-jump". They momentarily enter and exit the Warp, arriving at another star system. So, in a sense, the Tau are "star-hopping" through the galaxy. Warp Storms do affect it slightly, but because they don't fully enter the Warp, the alteration is not that major.

The next question I expect to hear is "If they can still travel, then why aren't you home?"  
Well, there are a couple of reasons behind that. One, home base is far away. It'd be ok if the destination was nearby. Our system – my chapter's HQ – is farther away than the Myana system, so we might overshoot the system and end up in deep space, or who knows where, if we tried. Those little off-center jumps add up the farther one goes. In interstellar terms, the Myana system would be next-door to the Tau, while our home would be on the other side of town.

I know. We can travel to other star systems, but we can't go back home.

Ironic, isn't it?

…

**Day 50: 8****th**** Day with the Tau**

YES! Today's the big day! We've arrives at Myana V, and the Tau fleet's moving to the 5th moon of the gas giant. Several ships are splintering off to Mya'to, in case a stray Necron ship slips past us.

Necrons…ugh…  
…as I'm sure you're aware by now, the Adeptas chapter I serve with is a protecting force; we strive to protect and preserve life in all of its forms. As a result, however, we've made a few enemies of certain groups and races which wish to _destroy_ life. And among these villains are the Necrons.

The Necrons, for any who don't know, are a race of ancient machines whose primary goal is the total eradication of all life. I remember hearing about them back when I was with the Iron Warriors; they said that the Necrons serve deities of their own, much like the forces of Chaos. These "Star Gods" are apparently fierce rivals of the more-infamous Chaos Gods, and both sides occasionally fight each other. So despite both of their goals to destroy and kill, the Chaos Marines and Necrons are bitter enemies.

The Necrons are also our enemies, but not because of a rivalry between gods. The Necrons are a plague to life, so they are automatically enemies of ours. Which bring us back to the present: the Tau and we are going to eradicate the Necrons which have appeared on the moon.

Fleet Commander Drov Shas Lel (_a.k.a: "DSL"_) has assigned the Fire Warriors into teams, or "La'ruas". We (_KFC, Gopher-boy, and I_) are going separately, after the main forces land and attack. We're all heading to the aptly-named "Bone Desert – green lights have been seen in the area, which may be a sign of Monoliths. Pray they aren't in formation…then it'll be much harder to slay them…

Only the Pathfinders can tell us for sure…

– – – – – – – –

Been a few hours now. Pathfinders just reported in – 2 monoliths, in formation. The Necrons have risen…great…

So here's the battle plan. Step 1, bombard the area; since the moon's totally barren, there's no harm in using an orbital bombardment. The Tau fleet will target areas where the Necrons have been confirmed – and any possible areas they might be, too – and destroy their bases. Next, land forces will, um…land on the surface and pick off the survivors.

KFC's joining us in the firefight planet-side; he tells me he has a customized Hammerhead Gunship he's been itching to test-drive. DSL, however, is making us wait – we're landing after the main forces.

…so we're waitin'…

– – – – – – – –

Finally! We're landing now! Look out, robots! Your end is near!

– – – – – – – –

We've landed on the surface. We're presently taking shelter near an overturned Devilfish to plot out our scheme.

The Tau assault will have definitely weakened the machines, but they still have one advantage – the Necron Lord. The Necron Lord serves not only as the director of the Necron forces, but also their power supply. He also is the one who summoned the machines in the first place, and can still summon plenty of other enemies. As long as the Necron Lord exists, the remaining robots can still put up a fight.  
So the mission is simple: eliminate the Necron Lord. Once he goes, the remaining Necron troops will either phase out and shut down, or will be so lost and confused that they'll be easy pickings for the Tau forces.

The plan's simple, on paper. KFC will pilot his Hammerhead gunship, and provide long-range heavy artillery against the machines. Gopher-boy's taking the Phalanx suit, and will draw the Lord's bodyguards. While the two of them take care of the Bodyguards, I'll target the Lord himself; I'm trusting the sword Malum to give me an edge. (_No pun intended._) If the bodyguards are taken down before the Lord, then my friends will give me backup.  
We all know the battle plan. We'll look for the Lord, and then strike. Here we go.

– – – – 1 hour later – – – –

Things've been going slowly. We've encountered several lone warriors, but they didn't last long against us.

Gopher-boy just said he saw a large group of Necrons in the distance. I climbed on top of the Hammerhead, and sure enough – There's the Lord, with two Immortals and a Destroyer escorting him. I leap off, and signal Gopher-boy to flank left around the enemy. Once he's far enough, KFC fires a round at the Destroyer. The Destroyer's skeletal-half was hit, and the machine crashed. That got the Lord and guard's attention.

Now it's Gopher-boy's turn. The plot resumes, as the Immortals come under bolter rapid-fire from the left. The Immortals go off, Gauss blasters blazing. Now the Lord's exposed… exactly as planned.

Now I already started running when Gopher-boy started firing on the bodyguards. So I got there just as the Immortals arrived at Gopher-boy's position. The Necron Lord must've heard me coming, and he was lucky he caught me in time – he raised his staff to defend just as I swung down. I recoiled, and swung again at the robot; the Lord dodged it.  
I have him by surprise – he won't last long!

The Necron Lord tries to shoot me with his Staff of Light, which fires bolts of lightning. (_I_ _find that ironic…I thought it would've shot light, not electricity…_) Instinctively, I held my sword up to block it; surprisingly, the sword seemed to absorb the charge! Huh…seems Malum's still got some surprises for me…

The Lord's nearing the fallen Destroyer with an Orb…oh, crap! He's going to revive it!

OMG!

…

Wow, lucky shot by KFC! He blasted the Destroyer, throwing the Necron Lord back. Now I have a bit more time to get to him; here I go!

HYAAAH!

Sliced off the arm holding the Regeneration Orb. A blast from my melta shattered the ball. Now the Necron leader can't revive any more troops. However, he himself can still regenerate, as evident by him putting his arm back on.

He shoots another bolt; THIS time, I _swing_ my blade instead of holding it. The bold is _deflected_ away! Awesome! I charge after my swing, holding Malum ready to strike. The Necron Lord deflects my first swing, but my next attack takes off his staff-wielding arm. As he recoils, I stab him through the chestplate! The Necrons have lost!

Wait…what's that low, humming sound?

WooooOooOOoooOOOAAAAAAH! VORTEX! We're in a vortex, spinning around like crazy!

WOOOOOAAAAAH!-OW!

…

* * *

End of Chapter 8

So, what did ya think?

What will happen to our heroes?  
That and more, in chapter 9 of _Diary of a Chaos Marine_! Stay tuned!


	9. Days 51 thru 55: New, Fungus World

**Diary of a Chaos Marine  
****By: Danny Pic

* * *

**

Hello there! Welcome to Chapter 9!

So, where have our heros ended up? Well, I held a poll to investigate. And _what few people __**participated**_ decided that the winning location is… the mushroom forest! Thanks to the _few who __**participated**_ in my little poll.

Again, I must stress, **I OWN NUFFIN!  
Now…**enjoy the madness! 8D

* * *

**Day 51 **

I awoke to the sight of Gopher-boy and KFC standing over me. Behind them – or rather, above them, since I was lying down – I saw the underside of a giant mushroom sheltering us. The sky was a brownish orange, as the twin suns I saw were in the horizon; it was dusk. Soon, night would fall. As I woke up, I noticed that I couldn't feel my sword, a clear sign that I had lost my grip on it in the vortex. Naturally, I thought I had lost it; however, I was eased when I saw the lifeless body shell which formerly held the Necron Lord – with Malum still embedded in his chestplate.

We're still somewhat confused and unsure as to what exactly happened to bring us here, but our current theory is that we were warped here by the Necron Lord. To the trained Necron-slayer, the term "Phase-out" might not be too strange to hear. But for those who don't know, I'll explain: basically, when Necron troops "die", or after the Lord dies, they usually teleport out to who-knows-where, leaving the battlefield and planet entirely.

(_As a side-note, this is the primary reason why there aren't many Necron bodies to study._)

What we think happened was this: when I stabbed the Necron Lord's chest with Malum, I must've accidentally hit the part of him that was responsible for that warp-out procedure. And when I did s, the power in the Lord combined with the magik in my sword and must've activated it, causing us to teleport to…whatever planet we're on now.

I know it sounds unlikely, but that's the best explanation we have. The only other possibility would be that someone brought us here, but I doubt that.

Anyway, so I've been out for a little while – at least most of the day. I only awoke today, so I have no idea how long. Gopher-boy and KFC managed to find each other, and then they found me together. Remarkably, the Hammerhead somehow survived its journey with us – just a few scratches! KFC must've made some shweet modifications to that thing, dood. The Phalanx suit also managed to stay together, luckily – it landed in a lake, and was cushioned by the water. Unfortunately, the hydraulic system was messed up because water ot inside the pistons, so the mech is virtually unusable until we take time to clean it.

For now, though, we're relaxing on top of the Hammerhead, with the Phalanx "sitting" next to a large tree-like organism. The night sky here is deep purple, and we can see an amazing moon above us. We'll focus on finding a plan tomorrow; tonight, we sleep.

…

**Day 52**

The Security Drones that KFC set up detected last night. Nothing came of it; there's bound to be creatures crawling around in this forest of what can only be described as mushrooms. Perhaps it's a native creature, who's interested in a bunch of aliens like us? Ha ha ha!

Anyway, today we woke up to do some studying. Ever heard the saying "You are what you eat"? Well, we're checking the water and fungi here to see if they're made of death! (_Ha ha…bad joke…_)  
Surprisingly, the mushrooms and water aren't too deadly. Luckily, we Adeptas Astartes have that better-built immune system, so we can eat junk like this. It's a strange thing, eating these tree-like mushrooms. It's almost like eating a sponge, but it tastes like pumpkin pie.  
(_I know…strange image, right?_)  
Well, at least it's better than the ration crap we got before. Gopher-boy and I are chowin' down on the 'shrooms. KFC, on the other hand, is a bit more health-cautious, so he's sticking to the emergency rations in his gunship. Hopefully, we'll find something better to eat before those run out.

Oh! Shoot…I hope I didn't just jinx that…

…man…I wonder how everyone else's doing…

…

**Day 53**

We spent the day exploring more of the surrounding area; we're hoping to find a vantage point – someplace where we can see a great distance away. Sadly, no such luck today.

We'll travel on the gunship; the Phalanx will have to be tied to the back of it, since we can't move it otherwise. Now our plan of action is to find a settlement of sorts. We're hoping that we're not the only being on this planet, so the easiest way to find out is to follow the river. I know some basics about civilization planning, and what I know is that the first place somebody'll set up camp is near running water. The river provides food, in the form of fish or aquatic life, and water for anybody here. If there's a town or base anywhere on this fungus-filled rock, it's bound to be on the water.

– – – – – – –

Pretty boring ride so far. I normally don't have the time to write a longer entry like this without using the Neural Log.  
It's been very uneventful, so I'll be mostly talking about the sights we see and the landscape, so that we can identify this place later on. For now, though, I'm holding off for today. We're setting up camp at a nice little clearing up ahead.

…

**Day 54**

The security drones acted up again last night. This is a bit too soon to be something random; this is the second day this has happened, and it's not even a week. There's definitely something here…  
It isn't the Necrons – the Lord's lifeless form remains where we left it. We tied it to the front of the gunship, in a sort of "hunting trophy" pose.

Oh, that reminds me! I only just noticed it today – the Necron Lord is still here! As in "_he hasn't phased out_"-here! We have a _Necron_ body – and not just _any_ Necron, a Necron Lord!  
Huh…yet another example of irony. We have possibly the greatest find in the history of all Necron-related findings…and we're stuck in the middle of nowhere…

Anyway, we explored our new site today. We're in a small clearing in the forest, next to the river. There's so much to do, so we've decided to divide the duties among ourselves. KFC is in charge of setting up camp, since we're using his tank as shelter and transportation. In case you didn't notice, his Hammerhead, like most of the Tau vehicles, is equipped with two modifiable Drones. We've set them up as a detection system, which will detect the entry or appearance of another life form near the campsite.  
Gopher-boy is the more biologically gifted among the three of us, so his job is to document and study the fungi and any native life forms in this fungal forest. This way, not only do we have records of them to study, but we also have a record of what is safe, what to avoid, and what to run from.  
Last but not least, is me. I am scouting out the area; my helmet is modified to take snapshots like a camera, so I can remember certain places or items for later. I'll take snapshots and readings of the surrounding geography, to make a visual map of the area. Then we can figure out where to go next from here. Likely, we'll stay near the river, but in case we find an object of interest – say, a crashed ship or some ruins – then we can break and investigate.  
And since the Phalanx is still out, Gopher-boy and I are stuck on foot.

We'll leave to work momentarily. I'll write later when I'm done. Off we go!

– – – – – – –

It's getting dark out now, so we've all returned to the gunship camp. We've all put our data together to review.

I presented my findings first. We're located, as previously stated, in a clearing next to the river. To our East (the way the suns rise), there are rocky cliffs that form a sort of miniature canyon. There are ledges along the walls which lead to the top, which may provide a good vantage point to see further. We'll investigate tomorrow.

Gopher-boy was next. Most of the fungal life was harmless and safe to eat, but several were questionable, and one in particular is dangerous. There are small, red-colored mushroom-like organisms that commonly grow in communities. The shrooms are capable of generating their own electrical charges, which spark whenever anything electrically powered or with electricity, such as small creatures or electrical devices, crawl inbetween two of them. These fungi are essentially battery packs, and caution is advised around them.  
And BTW, he said he'll pay me back for my portable GPS unit. Oh…he'll pay, alright…

In any case, we're all relaxing around a campfire now. KFC and I are swapping stories about adventures we've had before, things we've seen…other stuff.

I hope my baby's alright…nobody better touch my Rhino while I'm away…

…

**Day 55**

I woke up early today, so I could investigate the source of the security drones' alarm. I woke up about one and a half standard hours before we usually do, strode over to the Phalanx, and sat very still…  
about one standard hour after I awoke, I saw a figure in the "bushes", farther away. It had slowly crept its way up to us, trying to make as little noise as possible. I just sat motionless, staring at the shape spying on us. It's possible the shape noticed me, because it froze in that position. I didn't see it moving any farther or closer for several minutes. Then, after about ten minutes, it moved closer…right in the drones' sight range. The alarms blared, and the figure ran off as fast as it could, and disappeared into the woods.  
KFC and Gopher-boy asked me if I had seen anything – presumably, the one who set off the alarms. I honestly replied that I did see something, but I didn't get a good look at it. After that, we cat-napped until dawn.

This time around, KFC and I swapped duties. I would stay behind with Gopher-boy, and fix the Phalanx, while our Earth-Caste engineer went along the path I took yesterday to set up an observation post – essentially, a lookout tower – up on the cliff.

Gopher-boy and I set to work on the suit. The hydraulic systems had dried out, but we drained the pistons and re-filled them with fresh oil, just to be sure. We also lubricated all the joints, and cleaned every surface we could find and reach. Finally, we performed a systems check to make sure it was fully operational. We as engineers and pilots mustn't push our machines too far or too hard; unless we're careful, the machine could end up broken more than it was before, or worse.  
The Phalanx withstood our testing; our suit is functional once more.

KFC returned later on in the day. The watching post had been completed, and we all set up for dinner. Tonight, we ate our mushrooms (and rations), and talked amonst ourselves. But as we went to sleep, I was still feeling…uneasy.  
Something was still bothering me…

…something that, for some odd reason, I didn't mention to the others.

Before we got to work on our suit, I asked Gopher-boy to get some breakfast ready while I went to go investigate something. I didn't tell him what, in case I was mistaken. I left, and went to the spot where it was – where I had seen the shadowy figure earlier this morning. I found a group of tracks, most likely from the mystery visitor. I took snapshots of one of the tracks – I even compared it to my footprint. Strangely, however, I didn't call the others. Instead, I covered the tracks. I don't know why…perhaps I was curious as to why they were following us. Perhaps I was more curious as to what they would do if we didn't know. But in any case, they were covered, and I returned.

The tracks I found weren't tracks of any native creature…they were human tracks.

…we're not alone on this planet…

…

* * *

End of Chapter 8

So, how'd I do?

This is trying to set up introducing a new character to the series. Try to guess what this character will be, I dare ya. Lol

Next up, who is following the trio of lost warriors? Where will our heroes go now?  
That and more, in chapter 10 of _Diary of a Chaos Marine_! Stay tuned!


	10. Days 56 thru 59:  Road to the City

**Diary of a Chaos Marine  
****By: Danny Pic**

Hello there! Welcome to Chapter 10!

Alright, two things here. First, I know some of you will wonder why the main character's acting so strangely around vehicles now. Well, the truth is, he's always been that way. But the thing is, he wasn't stranded out in who-knows-where before. So things're tough on the poor guy, and he's just trying to keep himself organized.

Secondly, I apologize if the ending is a bit confusing; I'll go ahead and give a little spoiler about where the next chapters will be, so you understand my problem. See, I'm planning to do something special with Chapter 11. But the thing is, I'm hoping to begin that chapter with their _arrival_ in the city. But to do that, the misfits will have to still be traveling to the city. But, well…

…hopefully you'll understand my issue once you read this chapter. '^-^

Again, I must stress, **I OWN NUFFIN!  
Now…**enjoy the madness! 8D

* * *

**Day 56 **

No alarms went off this morning; it's possible that whoever was spying on us realized that he/she had been seen, and so decided to wait until we're not expecting it. In any case, I'm trying to decide my next course of action.

The big problem is that, unfortunately, we have no idea who this person is – or rather, what faction or race they're with. See, their affiliation decides how we'd react. If it's an Imperial citizen or the Imperial Guard, then the military would've known we're here, and they'd be trying to exterminate us. However, it's already been almost a week, and we've seen no sign of Space Marines, Imperial Guard, or any militia forces at all.

If it's an ordinary human, then it becomes more complicated. It could be a Tau-allied human helper (or "_Gue'la_", as they call them), or a native human, which is the most unpredictable.

Or even worse…it could be a Chaos Worshipper.

If there's one thing worse than a tattle-tale Imperial civilian, it's a fanatical religious nut seeing us as gods again. I _hate_ those guys – you try saying one thing, and they'll either a) kill themselves, b) follow you around all day chanting who-knows-what, or c) go insane and throw their belongings or themselves at you.  
(_I do_ not _want to be in another "Dalecos Prime" incident, ok?_)

So we dunno who they are, who they're with, or if they're friendly. So what to do? Hm…

…anyway, on to the day's work.

After our mushroom-&-cap breakfasts, we set out on our duties. Gopher-boy took the Phalanx out to cover more ground. Lucky…he gets to play with something he made for _me_…  
…I wish I could go and drive tha – WHAT AM I SAYING?

Why am I so hyped up over a battle suit? My love is only for my Rhino. Right! I don't need the Phalanx.

…I don't, ya hear?

…I'm being serious! I'm going up to the watchtower; I don't need it to do that.

…

…STOP IT! I'M NOT A CHEATER!

…

….fine, then I'll write later, since you won't leave me alone…

– – – – – – –

Alright folks, good news! I made it to the top of the tower, and there, in the distance, is a small city! I can tell for sure that we'll find some help there! It doesn't look too far always – probably take just a few days to get there! It looks like there's a canyon in-between the forest of mushrooms and the city, so that should be a cool place to camp up. Excellent! We'll pack up tonight, and then set off in the morning. ROAD TRIP!

– – – – – – –

It's dusk now. Today was a good day. Gopher found a native fishling that can be cooked up and eaten!  
(_We just call it "fishling"; in truth, it looks more like a tadpole with a head plate._)  
We've collected our stuff, and now all we need to do is leave. But first, we'll stay and get a good night's sleep; we'll need it on the trip.

…

**Day 57**

No problems tonight, either. I have a feeling that the spy overheard our plans, and is packing up as well to follow us. Still not sure what plan of action we should take about this…

Anyway, we've loaded up our food and water for the road. The good part is that, since the battle suit's now fully functional, we don't have to carry it on the gunship anymore. That means we can load up more supplies in the tank than before! We've also modified the Phalanx to carry bags on its waist and near the cockpit, since it can move now. Since KFC's the only one who knows how to operate the Hammerhead, either me or gopher-boy will have to take the Phalanx.

…

…I'm on the Hammerhead. I don't want that _machine_ to tempt me any further…even if it _does_ have built-in jump jets…and a customized combi-flamethrower…

…NO! I'm on the Hammerheah, and staying away from that…that mech! My heart only belongs to my precious back home!

Gopher-boy and KFC are looking at me like I'm crazy…but I'm not. I'm not crazy; I'm not going to be unfaithful to my _precious_…

…we've left for the city. Right…focus on the task at hand…forget that – DON'T…even say that word…

…

**Day 58**

We're on the road now. It's taking a while to get there, because a _certain machine_ is too _slow_ to keep pace with the _awesome_ Hammerhead's speed, so we have to slow down to keep pace with it. We should be arriving at the city in a couple of days.

And I've finally come up with an interesting plan of how to deal with the spy. The most appealing option to me is to do…  
…nothing.

Of course I'm concerned about who they are (who wouldn't be?). But even more, I'm curious as to whom they are, and that it might be interesting to see what they'll do if we just let them spy on us. It probably comes across as arrogant and selfish, but that's not the feeling I'm getting. It's more like…  
…it's more like if you're a mouse in a maze, being studied by scientists. And while they're observing you and making notes on you, you're actually watching them amd doing the same thing for them. But they don't know that you're experimenting with them, just like they think you don't know they're experimenting on you.

I hope that makes sense to somebody out there. Basically, it's like I'm spying on the spy.  
So it's decided. I'll carry on like normal, and won't raise too much fuss about the human spy. If the others get curious, I'll try to keep us focused on the task at hand.

Now, back to the present.

We've been travelling along a natural road we found. We should be exiting the fungal forest by next morning. After that, then through the canyon to the town!

At the moment, I'm getting me a mushroom chunk to eat. Hooray for spongey pumpkin pie!

…

**Day 59**

We've just exited the forest; we're almost there! Now just another day of travel and we'll be in the city. If this is an Imperial city, I'm half-expecting a platoon of the Imperial guard to be waiting for us. If they are…well, we'll just have to wing it.

Y'know, I have to admire the Tau on their vehicle design. The Devilfish is a truly impressive and adaptable vehicle. The chassis is modifiable to become a mortar tank (Hammerhead) or a missile gunship (Sky Ray). And they also come with two helper Drones that can be modified to attack, defend, scout, or even have an alarm! Plus, the vehicle hovers, which makes it more maneuverable than most tanks. I bet KFC had a boatload of fun working on this beauty…

…oh no. No, no, no, NO! We are NOT going through this with this tank, no sir! It's an extraterrestrial vehicle, for crying out loud! It's just not right!

Oh…if I were in any other position, I'd be on foot now.

– – – – – – –

We're a short ways away from the city. We passed a gate with towers earlier; it's likely the city's entry gate. If the Imperium's here, then they definitely know we're here, too. Great…  
…well, we've got the rest of the night to get there, so KFC's putting the tank on autopilot, so that he and I can sleep. Gopher-boy said that missing one night's sleep wouldn't hurt him, so he's staying up to drive that..._machine_. Tomorrow, we'll arrive in the city. Right now, I think I hear sirens going off in the distance…

…

End of Chapter 10

* * *

So you see why it's a hard decision? They've got to sleep, but they have to keep moving. So I wanted to get a clean division that could smoothly follow into the next chapter. But it's difficult, because I want them to have a sleep-moment, too, to end the entry. Hope I did ok with this part, and I hope you're not totally confused by some of the stuff.

Oh, and one final note before I close off this chapter. Don't freak out, but it might be a while before I add another chapter again. See, I'm out of school for Winter Break after this week, so it might be hard for me to get online and upload another chapter. (The ice storms and freezing weather don't improve things either.)  
I _might_ be able to add Chapter 11 before then, but I'm still in the middle of writing it, so it's going to be close. Either way, you might have to wait until next year to see any future chapters from me. I'm sorry, guys. I hope you're not too disappointed with me. T^T

Reviews are appreciated, so don't hesitate to tell me what you think!

Next time, our heroes arrive in the city! But whose city is it? And will this person decide to help the adventurers…or to hurt them?  
That and more, in Chapter 11 of _Diary of a Chaos Marine_! Stay tuned!


	11. Day 60:  Searching in 3rdPerson

**Diary of a Chaos Marine  
****By: Danny Pic**

Hello there! Welcome to Chapter 11! Wow…already up to day 60…that means that, in the story, it's been almost two months since we started this!

Well, here it is, folks. This is the chapter that I was telling you that I wanted to do something special in. Now, keep in mind that this is my first time trying this particular style in this story. So I would really appreciate some reviews in this particular chapter. If you don't like reviewing the story, that's ok; however, this chapter I would really appreciate some reviews on. I worked really hard on this chapter, and I want to know if you thought I pulled this off or not. **Your opinions of this chapter may influence future chapters I write**, so please review! I want to know if my hard work paid off!

Again, I must stress, **I OWN NUTHIN! ** (Well, aside from the characters I create, and the places that I make up.) **  
Now…**enjoy the madness! 8D

"_**Day 60**__**:**_

_KFC woke me up this morning. He needed me to hand over breakfast to gopher-boy while he was piloting the battlesuit, since he couldn't do it on his own. I just handed him some leftover mushroom to eat. I ate some, too, while KFC cooked some of the fishling meat for himself. He seems to have taken a liking to that stuff; that's good, since now he's not living off of those rations anymore. He pulled the old eat-while-driving trick, while I quickly finished off my breakfast and then got out of…"_

The mechanic's thought was interrupted as he heard Fio'Chen's voice come from the front, saying, "HEY! Your apprentice is calling you!"  
At once, he closed the book, and frowned at the hot-pink cover before tucking it away in his armor. After it was tucked away, he climbed up the ladder, and opened the circular top hatch-door, leading to the outside. He climbed up so that he was halfway out, and turned to his apprentice, the long, curly-haired young man in the running battle mech. He shouted, "What Is It, Gopher?"

"Sir!" the young man replied, "We're here!"

The mechanic turned, and saw the tall buildings that he had seen several days ago. It was true; they had finally arrived. "Ok, Chen! We've arrived!" he shouted below to the Tau who was piloting the gunship. The alien responded by slowing down the vehicle, and finding a place to land the hover-tank.

The city looked very much like a normal Imperial city. The tallest structures were glass-covered skyscrapers, resembling giant castle towers. The morning glow from the twin suns reflected off of the glass, adding a shine to the city. At the center of the city, the great Imperial Church stood tall and regal, and a statue of the God-Emperor watched over the people.

But the big thing that made this city so strange and different from others wasn't something that was there. It was something that wasn't.

There were no people. The entire city was deserted, it seemed.

Fio'Chen got out after he had "parked" the Hammerhead, and looked around. "Is this how all human cities are like?" he asked innocently.

"No, Fio'Chen," the apprentice stated, "It's very different…"

"Well, I know you mean the people, but I meant the city itself."

"What happened here?" the young marine asked, focused on the emptiness of the place.

"There doesn't seem to be any signs of a battle," the mechanic answered, hopping off of the Tau tank, "so the only other plausible answers are that they either fled, or are hiding from us."

The apprentice – whose name was Krevash Larvoté – turned to his master. "Why would they hide, sir," he asked, "and how can you tell they're hiding from us?"

His mentor replied, "Did you hear those sirens last night? It's possible that they saw us coming, and – as I said before – ran or hid. As for why, well, look at us: an Iron Warrior, a renegade Salamander with a battlesuit, and an alien with a tank. We do seem fairly threatening, if I do say so myself."

The Earth-Caste Tau nodded understandingly. "So," he inquired, "what do we do from here?"

The Iron Warrior turned to his companions. "Our priorities at the moment are to a) find where we are, b) find a way back home, and c) make it there in one piece. Considering that we've seen no sign of any military forces here, I believe that we can safely split up and try to find some information, without having to worry about being picked off one by one. Then, at the end of the day, we'll regroup and share our discoveries. Let's meet up, saaay…"

He looked around, and pointed at a tall building that looked like a castle turret. The building had gargoyles "guarding" the steps to the doors, and bore a logo of a hand sticking out its thumb. "…there!" he concluded. "At the end of the day, we'll all head to that building, and meet up there. Agreed?"

"Very well," Krevash agreed. "So, sir, would you like one of us to give you a ride?"

His master took a step away, eying the two machines warily, and asked, "Wh-why?"

"Well, sir, it'd be pretty difficult to navigate this maze of a city on foot," Larvoté pointed out, "and since there are only two vehicles, I figure it'd be more reasonable if you hitched a ride with one of us. Would you prefer that, master?"

The Chaos marine looked to the Tau's Hammerhead mortar tank. He swore that he saw the tank moving one of its front cannons, as if beckoning him closer. Immediately, he heard a seductive voice in his head. "_Come here, sweet thing,_" the voice said, "_I'll let you ride on top..._"

The mechanic then turned to the Phalanx custom battlesuit, which Larvoté had made as a present for him. Larvoté was now gone, and the mech was motioning with its arms for him to come to it. "_No!_", another voice said, "_Come to me! I was __made__ for you…_"

"I'll take my chances, thanks," the mechanic said, and began walking away from the others. He was glad that his helmet was on, because it would've been difficult attempting to explain his blushing to his apprentice and his xeno friend.

Larvoté looked confused and worried as his master walked off. Then he shrugged, and parted ways with Fio'Chen.

– – – – **2 HOURS AFTER SEPARATING – – – –**

– – – Larvoté – – –

The younger marine, Larvoté, made his way up the large marble stairs. He was seeking human contact to find the information they required; as such, he figured it would be best to start by looking in places where people usually gathered. So, naturally, he was beginning his search in the largest, most popular public meeting place ever conceived…

…the public mall.

He had "parked" the Phalanx suit out front (_it was sitting on a large block, presumably a decoration._) while he ventured inside the shopping center. As he drew near the doors, they automatically opened, which Larvoté took as a sign that the power grid was still online. The only strange thing he had noticed was that, as it opened, the door seemed to _sigh_ contently. As it closed behind him, it sighed again. After he was inside, Larvoté stared at the door, wondering what exactly he had seen, or if it had even really happened at all. In the end, he made himself focus back on the mission, and concluded that the sigh was just his imagination. He then shrugged to himself, and entered the grandiose halls of the public mall.

– – – Krolt Fio'Chen – – –

Meanwhile, the Tau engineer Krolt Fio'Chen was driving towards the center of town. The alien was searching for the basic information place; he knew that most settlements, human or not, often had an information center which served as an introduction to the city, providing valuable information to newcomers.  
(_In the case of humans, this place was often called a "Visitor's Center"._)  
So, since they were technically newcomers, Fio'Chen thought that this building would be a good place to search.

Now, an important fact to remember is that, although his race was familiar – and in this case, allied – with humans, his people weren't overly experienced with human customs and ways. His understanding of human language was basic, so he could make out the sign that read "Visitor's Center" above the structure he came to. However, he wasn't familiar with how humans often acted, or how they regarded their rules. So, without his two human counterparts to assist him, he had only his instincts and intuition to guide him.

Fio'Chen stopped the tank, and shut down the propulsion systems, making the ship land. He crawled out of the hatchway on top, locked the doors of the tank, and activated a lone security drone to act as a "car alarm" of sorts. He then turned to the doors, and pulled them.

He then pushed them, as he didn't notice the "push" sign before, and made his way inside.

A small bell chimed as Fio'Chen opened the doors. He assumed that this was a way of informing the staff when a client entered. He smiled, and entered the building, closing the door behind him, which made the bell chime a second time. He scanned the room; before him was a series of velvet ropes connected to metal poles. The ropes were aligned in such a way to form a pathway, presumably to organize long lines of customers. The alien navigated his way through the winding labyrinthine path, despite there being no line, and stopped at the end.

Fio'Chen saw several booths lined up, with a black light-up sign above each booth. Most of the booths had blank signs, but one booth's sign read in large red letters "NOW SERVING". So he walked over to that booth, and stood before it. On the booth's desk, there was a silver bell with a button on top; a small sign above the bell said "Ring Bell for Service".

So Fio'Chen, wanting to follow the rules and show proper etiquette, did so. He then patiently waited for a person to come.

– – – The Mechanic – – –

The doors of a movie theater closed as the Iron Warrior entered the spacious, brightly-colored entrance room. He was still slightly embarrassed from his first moments in the city. He had convinced himself that it was the design of the Tau machinery that was to blame – since the Phalanx had Tau influence on its design, it made sense to him.

"Just forget about it," the chaos marine growled to himself. "You're remaining faithful. That's what counts." He then shook his head, and returned to a more orderly and friendly demeanor.

The mechanic began to scan some of the posters on the walls. This was partly out of boredom, but mostly because he hoped that one of these movies would have some reference to a familiar-sounding place. He turned, and saw the giant preview screen above the snack bars, and immediately recognized one movie as being a remake of one of his favorite old plays. He strode over, chuckling to himself, posed dramatically in the middle of the room, and spoke in a dramatic voice, "Beware the Ides of March!" He laughed out loud at his quote, and calmed down a few minutes later. "The greatest tales are the ones which last forever," he said aloud, after a contented sigh.

After scanning around for any more information, he casually strode out and continued on his search, ignoring the shadow that was hiding in the alley across the street…

– – – – **6 HOURS AFTER SEPARATING – – – –**

– – – Larvoté – – –

"Oh, my stars! I had no idea that these things were still around!"

Such were the enthusiastic calls emanating from the science store in the mall, where a very happy Krevash Larvoté was admiring the various knick-knacks and gizmos which lined the shelves. When he first saw the store, memories flooded back from his childhood, when he always enjoyed exploring those amazing books, TV shows, and awesome toys and kits.

"Amazing!" he exclaimed again, as he discovered a holographic solar system. It wasn't the system where they were located, however; it was a map of the Sol system, the birthplace of mankind. He looked longingly at the detail the designers had incorporated – even the space stations were there, orbiting as they did in real life!

Larvoté tore himself away from the model; no matter how awesome the hologram was, he had a job to do. He was just about to exit, when one item caught his eye. He picked up the box, which contained a "Star Map Ultima: _See all of the Imperial star systems, at the voice of your command!_"

Interested, he opened the box and gently pulled the gadget out. Normally, he would've paid for it before opening it; however, this was a different situation. Still though, he was hoping to keep the item in pristine condition, so he took great care when handling the device, so it could still be sold. He set the device down on the counter, and turned it on. As it activated, the Milky Way Galaxy materialized over the base, slowly rotating. Larvoté stared, thinking about how this would work.

(_He would've read the instructions, but they were carefully wrapped up, so he was forced to learn by practice._)

He thought a moment, and then clearly spoke, "Display the Homeworld." The galaxy began to zoom in to one particular point, and soon Sol came into view. In about 10 seconds, the device had zoomed in directly to Terra – the human homeworld. Larvoté smiled; this was interesting.

He said, "Display the Epsilon Eridani." The display zoomed away from Terra and Sol, and zoomed into another one. Almost instantly, the elliptical gas giant orbiting the star came into view. As he experimented, he learned that this was a set galactic map showing each of the Imperial star systems from that set time.

After a few more tests, Larvoté spoke one last time. "Display the planet we are located on," he said. The map zoomed into a small binary system, with planets orbiting twin stars. Then it zoomed in closer, to the second planet of the system. Orange skies…pale-blue land…and forests of mushrooms. The planet was labeled "Naron II".

They now had a location. Larvoté took a picture, and then put the device back into the box. He then resealed the box, placed it on the shelf, and walked out.

– – – Krolt Fio'Chen – – –

Back at the visitor's center, the Earth-Caste engineer was now leaning on the desk. He was still in the center, still at the booth…and still waiting. Beneath his helmet, Fio'Chen was feeling greatly conflicted. His gut instinct told him that, after two hours of waiting, it was unlikely anybody would come, and so it was better to leave and explore elsewhere. But another part hesitated, considering the possibility that somebody _was_ here, and may arrive and find nothing if they leave.

Wanting to be polite, the Tau rang the bell again, the exact same as before. He straightened up, as to appear orderly, and waited. He shuffled his feet, wondering when someone would come to help him…

– – – The Mechanic – – –

The mechanic gazed in marvel at the beauty before him. There, right in front of him, was one of the oldest and most important machines known to mankind… the _original_ remote operated aircraft – the "Predator"-class scout fighter drone. It was one of the first remote-operated aircraft ever made that served in actual combat situations. To the Iron Warrior, this was equivalent to looking at the very first airplane made from almost forty thousand years ago. This small, lightweight plane was the start of modern robotic aerial fighters. Nowadays, robotic fighters and aircraft were much more intelligent and advanced. Certain Chaos chapters even utilized fighter craft that were operated solely by a droid brain – almost _no_ human interference, aside from commands! Of course, other races had more advanced robotic aircraft than these – the Tau had drones, and the Necrons had Scarabs. But nevertheless, human technology was powerful in its own right.

The Chaos marine smiled at the artifact, and continued walking through the museum. Presently, he was in the Air & Space wing, and was searching for information in there. See, this museum dealt with history, like most museums do. And as such, there would probably be a section with information concerning this particular system – namely, when it was colonized, where it's located, and what military forces occupy the planet. Scanning around could reveal this information, as well as enlighten him to any alien species which may/may not have been – and still may be – nearby.

He entered one room, which contained a hologram of the planet and its moon, as seen from space, hovering above everything. "Looks like this is the place," the mechanic said, smiling inside of his helmet. He spent at least an hour taking pictures of much of the room – the hologram, models of ships and drop pods and such, pictured of several alien races, and – primarily – the information cards which accompanied everything.

In his info-gathering mission, he uncovered a goldmine of information. He had discovered that this was a backwater system of the Imperium, so not many forces came by there. However, he did find that one small militant force was stationed there, and that their base wasn't too far from the city they were in.

But when he saw what the occupant forces were, the poor marine's face fell, replaced by one of despair. "No…," he whined, "…not theeem…"

– – – – **10 HOURS AFTER SEPARATING – – – –**

– – – Larvoté – – –

Back at the mall, Larvoté walked through the halls, taking in the sights and looking for a place to find some more information. He passed by the food court, which was unsettlingly empty. After thinking over the evidence, he decided that there was nothing else to find in the mall – just empty rooms, clothing, and nick-knacks. He turned towards the exit, and headed back the way he came in.

As he exited, he looked to the sky. The twin suns were on the other side of the sky, signaling that it was near the day's end. He figured that there was no time to continue looking, and powered up the suit. He started on the way to the meeting site, hoping that the others wouldn't have much trouble.

– – – The Mechanic – – –

The mechanic stared at the building, a serious look on his face. He was standing on a granite base, and before him stood a large cathedral-like structure. The building was adorned with large stained-glass windows, the designs of which he couldn't make out from the outside. Turrets were on either side of the building, and a statue of an angel adorned the entryway. At the top, a stone cross identified the building from far away.

The Iron Warrior stood there, contemplating his next action. He was no longer bound by the forces of Chaos, so now…he could enter.

Boldly, he climbed the stone steps, and entered the Imperial church.

The first thing he saw upon opening the doors was a corridor lined with tapestries and chairs. As he entered the church, he saw that the tapestries were scarlet with golden lining, and that the ornate chairs were reddish-brown in color. He stopped in front of one of the tapestries, and gently traced the pattern with one finger. He then continued into the main hall.

The grand hall was a beautiful room. Inside, one felt like he/she was entering the home of a giant. The stonework of the walls and the ceiling was old, but still strong. The curved archways which held the roof above were elegant in design, similar to how the castles on Janilum VII looked. Under his feet, a red carpet cut through the marble floor, leading up to the altar. The wood and metal altar held the Imperial Bible on it, golden and closed. Behind the altar, an elegant painting showed a portrait of the God-Emperor, noble and strong, painted directly on the wall. The altar and the wall-portrait overlooked rows of metal seats, with leather cushioning on the seats themselves and the backs. Overall, the technological and medieval feel of the place melded in a state of awe-inspiring wonder.

But what spoke out most to the former Chaos marine as he slowly walked through the hall wasn't the sights. What most fascinated him were the echoes he heard.

As he paused, he heard what sounded like echoes from the past. He could hear the sounds of chanting priests and praying believers in the room. It formed a sort of ambience around him, which made him feel even more like he was in another place…a holy place. He stepped up several paces from the altar, and the portrait. Then, he did something which would have flabbergasted anyone in there at the time.

He knelt on his knees, and prayed.

After one minute or so, he stood back up, and walked around to see the bible. The covering was golden, and the writing seemed to shimmer in the fading light. The Iron Warrior frowned. _I will never follow the lies that the Imperial church will spread_, the mechanic thought. _I may worship the Holy Emperor, but that doesn't mean that I will ever bow down to such a ruthless and greedy body of liars who manipulate His holy words for their own purposes._

As he was about to exit, he paused, and looked around. Then he spoke out loud.

"I've never gotten the chance to see this place," he said, seemingly to nobody. "Back when I was with the Iron Warriors, the churches were always destroyed before I could go inside. They told me that these places were abominations to nature, and that they mustn't exist. They said that if anyone entered the church, then they were blasphemer, and should be executed."

He paused for a moment, as if expecting a response. Then, he continued.

"What an amazing lie that was! How could anyone destroy this? This place…it's beautiful. It's almost magical. I don't understand how they could even think that such a beautiful place would be anything like an abomination. They kept believing that the Emperor's words were just fabrications, and that their deities were somehow better. But how? They never even stopped to see how peaceful this place is."

He then turned to one particular seat, and said finally, "and I don't understand how someone like you could believe that a Chaos marine could never repent himself."

He then turned back, and exited the building, touching the walls one last time before leaving.

And inside the church, the Imperial spy sat in their hiding spot, trying to comprehend what they had just heard…

– – – – **12 HOURS AFTER SEPARATING – – – –**

– – – Krolt Fio'Chen – – –

The Tau had remained at the visitor's center, still at the booth…but now was asleep. Needless to say, he had struggled long and hard to stay awake and polite. But after twelve full hours of waiting, he had lost the battle. The alien was slumped on the counter, resting his head on his arm, and dead-to-the-world asleep.

And it's likely he would have remained that way, had he not been shaken awake.

"Huh? Wha? WOAH! Wait, what happened?", cried Fio'Chen, jumping to his senses. He relaxed when he saw the face of Krevash Larvoté, smiling at him knowingly. The Tau engineer put his hand behind his head, and asked, "Oh…was – was I asleep?"

The former Salamander marine shook his head disappointedly. "Chen…," he asked, "…did you forget the part about the people being _gone_?"

"No, but it said to ring the – oooohh….right…" Fio'Chen's face showed his understanding about what had happened…and how he had messed up. He hung his head and said, "I'm sorry, Larvoté. I didn't know…"

The Young space marine put his hand on the Tau's shoulder. "It's ok Chen," he said. "You just need to work more on your people skills, that's all."

The alien nodded, and the pair walked out together, bypassing the maze of velvet ropes. Once they reached the door, Fio'Chen began to laugh. "I can be such a gas cap, huh?"

"I think," said Larvoté, "the term you mean is 'Airhead'." The two of them laughed all the way back to the vehicles.

– – – – **14 HOURS AFTER SEPARATING – – – –**

The group finally made it to the meeting site. Fio'Chen had set down the Hammerhead, and opened the doors. They set up camp outside the skyscraper, and sat around a small heating source.

"So, how'd your trips go?" Fio'Chen asked, hoping that his small mishap hadn't hindered the mission.

"Actually," answered Larvoté, "I learned a good bit of information. The Planet we are on is called "Naron II", and it's on the outskirts of the Imperium. Unfortunately, I have no idea how far it is from our protectorate."

"I actually know a bit more information," the mechanic chimed in. The younger marine turned towards his master, eager to hear what he had found. The mechanic opened the pictures of the info cards from the museum, and spoke.

"Naron II," began the Iron Warrior, "is a backwater system of the Imperium. The planet was colonized almost a century ago, because of the then-strategic location it was at. The system used to be a Eldar base, but the Imperium took the system, and used it as a base to launch their assault on the nearby systems which the Eldar had occupied. After the war was over, the Naron system lost importance, since the threat was no longer there. Over time, the Imperium began sending fewer and fewer forces to the system, until they stopped sending troops entirely."

"This system used to be a Eldar base," the young apprentice said, "…so that must mean – was there a Webway gate here?"

The mechanic shrugged. "There was no mention of any in my search, but it's worth a look. The Eldar base was, coincidentally enough, on the moon of this planet."

The others looked at the bluish moon in the sky. "So all this time, there's been a Eldar base on the moon above us?" Larvoté almost yelled.

"It's abandoned, so it's not an active base. But if you're looking at it by previous ownership, yes, there is an abandoned Eldar base on the moon."

"Aw, man... how do we get there?"

"So you're saying that there aren't any military forces here at all?" Fio'Chen asked, changing the subject. "I would've thought they would've kept at least _some_ troops here for defense."

The Chaos marine changed to a more concerned tone. "Actually," he said uneasily, "there is a small militia here. And they do have a base close by, but…"

Larvoté's mood immediately perked up. "Awesome! So we hijack – I mean, "borrow" a dropship, and take it to the Eldar base! Problem solved!"

"Not exactly," his master replied. "There's, um… a slight problem of ownership…"

"Well, what are the forces here?" the young marine asked.

There was a pause for a while. Finally, the answer came: "…_Adeptas Sororitas_."

Instantly, the two space marines' faces fell. "Oh…crap…" was all that Larvoté managed to say in response.

Fio'Chen didn't understand why they had become so glum. "It's ok, friends!" he said, attempting to bring the team's spirits up. "It doesn't seem so bad! I'm sure we can handle them!"

The Iron Warrior glanced at the Tau as if he had said the dumbest thing in the galaxy. "Chen," the mechanic said, "do you really think that the three of us can stand up against the most ruthless, zealous, religious, and downright bad-*** warriors the Imperium could create?"

The alien looked confused, but Larvoté leaned over and whispered in his ear. At his words, Fio'Chen's face dropped. "Oh…we're all doomed…," he said sadly.

After they had all eaten, they went inside of the Hammerhead to sleep. The Phalanx was set to stand on its own, to appear like it was operational; in truth, all its controls were locked, so if an intruder tried to pilot it, they were stuck there. The two security drones activated, to alarm the men of any danger. While Fio'Chen and Larvoté slept, however, the Iron Warrior stayed up late. He pulled out the hot-pink book, and began to write.

– – – – – – – –

"…_This is incredible, and not in the good way. On the bright side, we have a potential way back home; we've discovered that the Eldar used to have a base on the moon here, and there might be a Webway gate there. Unfortunately, all the good news we discovered was counter-acted by one bit of bad news. Unfortunately, to get to the Webway gate, we have to steal a ride from some of the most religious, fanatical, and dangerous warriors known._

We have to go up against the Sisters of Battle…and live_, no less…_

…_terrific. Just freakin' terrific…"_

…

End of Chapter 11

A/N: So how'd I do? Now, I know some of you might take issue with the statement towards the end. But…come on, folks. Let's face it – the battle sisters are pretty dang bad***, and I don't think anybody wants to get on _their_ bad side. Plus, it fits perfectly because, in case you haven't guessed yet, the new character I'm introducing is a girl. So yeah…

Oh, and I hope you enjoyed my surprise: 3rd-person writing! At first, I thought to do this the same way as before, with the mechanic telling the story via his pink book. But as I thought about it, I realized that this was a good opportunity to explore and introduce the characters to you, the viewers. It's hard to introduce people from another character's point of view without personal opinions getting in the way.  
I figured if I did a chapter in 3rd-person view, then I could more accurately describe the characters to you, and also have a lot more opportunities to make ya laugh.

Reviews will help me live! As I said before, this is just a test. I might decide to do some more 3rd-person chatpers like this later on in the series, but only if you want me to. So please, if anything, review THIS chapter.

Oh, and just so you know, the mechanic does not have a name.  
(_Partly_ _because I want to experiment with identifying a character without a name…but mostly cuz I can't think of any good names! _T^T)

Next time, how will our heroes stand up against the Sisters of Battle?  
Will the Imperial spy sympathize with the mechanic, or will they remain against them?  
And what about the Eldar base? Is it really abandoned, or is it…A TRAP!

That and more, in Chapter 12 of _Diary of a Chaos Marine_! Stay tuned!


	12. Days 61 thru 63: Thunderhawks & Visions

**Diary of a Chaos Marine****  
By: Danny Pic**

Hello there! Welcome to Chapter 12! At long last, I'm finally getting around to writing this.

First off, I should apologize for this chapter's quirkiness, if any. See, I have envisioned part of the story here, but I can't seem to decide on how to start it. Basically, they need a way to find where the ships are in the Battle Sisters' base. But I don't know how best to provide them with the information.

Should I have them spy on the base, and risk the imperial spy tattling on them?

Should I have them capture one of their soldiers, and interrogate them for the layout?

Should I skip the trouble, and just give 'em GPS?

There are so many possibilities to go here! The end result is in sight, but which pathway do I take to get there? That's been my struggle for the past few weeks or so: where to being.

So as a result, I'm changing my routine. Normally, I write out a rough draft on paper, and then copy onto the computer. This time though, since I'm not really going anywhere, I'm skipping writing out the rough draft, and am going straight to the computer. So if this seems a bit crude, I sorries. T^T

Again, I must stress, **I OWN NUTHIN! ** (Well, aside from the characters I create, and the places that I make up.) **  
Now…**enjoy the madness! 8D

**Day 61 **

Our spirits are somewhat down. After yesterday's information, we're all depressed at the odds. I mean, c'mon! We're going up against sisters of battle! Not only are they part of the Witch Hunters – otherwise known as the Imperial Inquisition –, but they're also relentless fighters. They're like…like holy samurai people, y'know?

It doesn't matter if they're girls – gender tends to lose meaning when both sides have big guns pointed at you.

So in any case, we're up against terrifying odds; we need to infiltrate a Sister of Battle base, steal a shuttle, load up our vehicles and provisions, and fly it to the abandoned Eldar base on the moon, and see if we can find a way out of here.  
And we have to do it without getting killed.

So we're staying an extra day or two to come up with a battle strategy. If we're going up against _Sororitas_, we'll need a plan. A _good_ plan.

We're splitting up again to try and find any information regarding the local battle sisters that can help us. Gopher-boy is taking his mech to search a telescope observatory we found. He'll try to find us a landing site.  
KFC feels rather ashamed at his mishap yesterday at the visitor's center, so he's going to the next best place – the library. He figures he can do better in a place full of books. Here's hoping he's right. 

As for me…I'm going to seek advice from the only one who can help us now…

– – – – – – – – – – –

_**(I'm deciding to go into third-person for this point. It'll be easier to tell the event this way than to go into a diary entry. I'll inform you when we return to the diary, ok? So enjoy!)**_

- - - 3 hours later - - -

The mechanic walked up to the cathedral again. He looked at the great turrets and statues of the building, lost in thought. He stepped through the great doors, looking around at the tapestries again, letting the memories of yesterday and days before fill him again. He walked down the aisle, and stopped before the altar, and the portrait of the Holy one – the God-Emperor.

He knelt down, bowing before the image of the Emperor, the pains and fears of his past re-emerging. He bowed once more, rose (still kneeling), and clasped his hands together. He spoke loud and clear:

"Lord, I thank you for the blessings you have given us all, and thank you for your love and support.

"I know I have not always been as loyal to you as my brethren in the Iron Warriors traitor legion. When I was on their side, I blindly destroyed your churches and burned your holy text, not knowing of the love and care you give to your disciples and followers. I discovered the preciousness and value of life, something that you had blessed the universe with, and when I tried to share your gift with the other Iron Warriors, they attempted to exterminate me. I was never aware of your holiness until I found the chapter I currently serve and fight alongside.

"I realize that I am, as some would say…"unclean". My life, for so long, had been against your divine will, and I neither saw nor appreciated your gifts or love for a very long time. I have tried for so long now to repent and atone for my sins by fighting to preserve and protect the gift of life, and by teaching your word – the original word, written by you – to those who we protect. And I hope that my goals and my doings have been to your will and approval.

"But now, my Lord, I seek your help and guidance. I come to you not as an enemy, willing to harm humanity or life in all forms. Nor do I come to you as another fanatic, wanting to know your every whim and thought or to tell me what to do. I come to you, great and glorious God, as a lost soul, seeking guidance from your great wisdom.

"Lord, my friends and I are in a truly desperate position. Due to either a mistake on my part or a freak event, me, my apprentice, and our friend – I might as well mention that he is a Tau, since you may already know – have become separated from our brothers and friends. We are currently on one of the Imperium's outskirt systems, and we are seeking to find a way back. We know of an old Eldar base on the moon, and we plan to try and use it to return home. Unfortunately, the only ones who possess a ship capable of inter-planetary flight on this planet are your own warriors, the Sisters of Battle. Given our lineage and association, they would surely do their best to destroy us. Normally, we would never attempt, much less think about, fighting your children; however, we have no other alternative but to steal one of their ships and take it to the moon.

"My Lord, we are desperate," the mechanic concluded, bowing down before the portrait. "We wish that we could avoid confronting your holy forces, but circumstances give us no other options. Please, blessed God, help me help my brothers. Please…give me the guidance we need to go back home."

There was a moment's pause. Then suddenly, the Iron Warrior saw a bright yellow light engulf him. The light receded as suddenly as it came, and his vision returned, although there was a yellow tinge to everything. He then saw himself rising… rising_… rising above the city, and moving East. _

_He saw what resembled a military base surrounded by stone walls. Outside, the forest of mushrooms and fungi pushed close to the walls, almost like the forest was trying to push through the walls. Within the walls, there was a barracks, training yards, and vehicles. On the training yards, the mechanic saw what looked like warriors practicing; he then realized that the warriors were, in fact, women. This must be their base, he thought, as the training recruits continued their exercises. He immediately noticed something about the soldiers of the base; there was very few of them. The base seemed like it could hold over sixty troops – here, he only saw less than thirty. He then was moved above a certain boxed area, with a large platform of concrete. He then was moved closer, to a building nearby. _

_Within, he saw something that made his spirits lift seemingly up to Heaven itself: aircraft._

_There were several aircraft in the hangar, including Lightning fighters, Valkyries, and a bomber. But the ships which caught his attention were the biggest ones there: two Thunderhawks. A Thunderhawk… arguably the superior Imperial aerial transport/assault craft ever made. It could carry up to three full tactical squads – or one or two vehicles –, with the precision and versatility that no drop pod could hope to achieve. It also could out-fight, out-do, and out-last the best of the Imperium's heavy fighters. And more importantly, the Thunderhawk aircraft was capable of space flight, since it occasionally saw use in space battles. _

_The Thunderhawks he saw were of the transport variety, suggesting that these were the battle sister's methods of getting around. He noticed that one didn't match the local armor color of the sisters. The sister's color scheme was indigo and golden; the transport he saw was scarlet, silver, and tan. He then decided that that transport would be their target._

Suddenly, everything returned to white, and faded back to normal. He was back in the church, still kneeling, but now sitting up straight. He paused for a moment, to take in what had just happened. He realized that he had received a vision. He looked up at the portrait of the God-Emperor. "…praise you, Lord," he said, bowing before the portrait. "Blessed be thy name, and praise be given to you by all!"

At once, he got up, bowed to thank the portrait, and raced out of the building. He then shouted to the winds, "PRAISE THE GOD-EMPEROR! HE HAS BLESSED US WITH HIS DIVINE LOVE!"

_**(Ok, third-person part is over. We now return you to your regularly scheduled diary. Enjoy!)**_

– – – – – – –

Today was wonderful indeed! The God-Emperor… he gave me that vision. He must want us to make it back home.

I shared the information this night with my comrades. The Sister's base is defended, yes, but there are a lot of advantages on our side.

For one, they are very under-manned; only about thirty or so personnel are there, including warriors and leaders. So during night, that means at least a third of the troops will be active, watching for enemies. (_That's very low – about ten people guarding a base that can hold six times as many._)  
As a result, their security has less of a chance of spotting three men like us. And if they do find us, then it shouldn't be too much trouble either disabling them or, if push comes to shove, killing them.

Secondly, their base is right next to the forest of mushrooms – almost surrounded by it. During nighttime, the light of the moon makes shadows underneath the mushroom's umbrellas, which combines with the number of trunks and smaller fungi to make it incredibly difficult to see anything in there. This makes us twice as invisible as before; we could sneak right up to the walls and be almost unseen, hidden in the shadows.

Finally, our target – the hangar and landing pad – is on the far side of the base. There's a watchtower near the hangar, presumably intended for spotting incoming aircraft. It might also be used as a lookout tower, so it'll be good to stick below the mushrooms around there. The target aircraft is held in the hangar, but is blocked off from the doors by smaller aircraft. So the only way to get it out is to make a hole in the roof and attempt vertical take-off.

We'll spend tonight preparing to move. We'll need to leave in the black of night, so that the locals won't know where we are. It's possible that the Sisters of Battle are on their way here to "remove" us from the city. So we'll leave in a few moments, and we'll stop when we get to the safe cover of the forest. We're leaving soon, so I have to cut short this entry. Praise the God-Emperor!

…

**Day 62**

We all woke up late today, considering that we stayed up late last night. We left the city under night's dark cover, and we entered the mushroom forest again a little after midnight. We ventured deeper into the fungal forest, so that we have more things separating us from any military forces. It's likely that the Imperial spy, whom I am now convinced is a battle sister like the local militia, has been following us still; however, since we haven't talked about the information that the Emperor gave me out loud, there's no reason to be concerned.

I've been working on some ideas to plan out our infiltration. First and foremost, we can't bring the vehicles with us. They're just too noticeable; they're big, loud, and even the untrained eye can see when one's coming. So we're forced to leave them out of range, in a safe spot where we can return for them. KFC will remain with them; after all, his Hammerhead's got a bigger gun. Gopher-boy and I will be the ones to infiltrate and take the transport.

Secondly, we'll need to make a distraction so that the guards and any troops still awake will be far away from the hangar, and therefore won't disturb us while we're taking the aircraft. It's going to be difficult, because not only do we need to make a distraction which doesn't involve either of us being the bait, but there's also the matter of operating the transport. The Thunderhawk requires a crew of four specially-trained marines to be fully operational, and we only have two – myself and my apprentice. However, if my slight background knowledge of piloting vehicles and ships (including aircraft) is correct, it's possible that half of those positions aren't really necessary for simply _flying_ the transport. Therefore, it might be possible that we can still fly the ship with only two people.

Now while it may be possible to fly the ship with two people, the lack of personnel can also cause problems. Suppose our distraction doesn't last long, and the sisters find us while we're trying to get the ship running. Then, without additional crew, we'd be sitting ducks, totally helpless as they board the transport and eliminate us. We'll need a way to defend ourselves in case they decide to attack us. That could be remedied by a bigger distraction, but…what could possibly be so dangerous, vital, or important enough to get the sister's attention long enough for us to get away? Hm…

Well, in any case, we're working on the plan. The first part is pre-preparation; we're getting close to the sister's base, so that we don't have to sneak too far to get there. We also need to figure out which side of the base we're on, so that we can take measures accordingly. We'll also need to spend tonight spying on them, to see how heavily guarded they are during the night, and if the guards pose any serious threat to us. So since most of today will be watching, positioning, and preparing, I'm going to resume writing tomorrow; I'll use the Neural Log to document our infiltration into the base. Good night, and sleep tight.

…

**Day 63**

Good news. Apparently, the majority of the forces aren't at the base. They apparently got a call about some chaos marines and a Tau invading the city we just came from (_wink, wink_), and so left to search the city for any signs of them. Lucky us! Only five people are on guard, and they're at the typical high-visibility spots. And more… no struggle necessary. Tonight will be beautiful.

So, tonight is our one chance. KFC is towing our vehicles far away, towards an opening in the forest several miles from the base. We should be able to travel that far in about a minute with the Thunderhawk. Everything is going beautifully, and so much better than I anticipated! It'll be just like walking into a store and buying it! Ha ha!

So, tonight we prepare our attack. KFC is leaving right now, and he should arrive at the spot by the time we begin our "attack". We'll sneak into the base near the hangar, and get in the Thunderhawk. Then, after preparing it for take-off, we'll use an onboard cannon to blast a hole through the roof, which we'll use to make our escape. After we take the transport, we'll land at the checkpoint, quickly load up the Hammerhead and the battlesuit, as well as provisions, and we'll blast off to the moon.

Now, what can go wrong? Well, we could end up waking up some of them before we start the transport up. In that case, we'd be out-manned, and we'd have to make do with what we have. At the top of the list, the rest of the forces could return during our mission. In that event, there won't be any time to fight; we'll either have to quickly take the aircraft, be shot by the enemy, or (more preferred) perform the act of _kamikaze_ – detonate the aircraft, killing ourselves and the transport. However, the event of a return doesn't seem likely; from what I know about the Witch-Hunters, they like to be thorough with their missions. They'd probably be busy for a few days with a city that big.

Well, in any case, all we have to do now is wait. And I think I have a way of getting even closer to our target…

– – – – – – – – – – – NEURAL LOG ACTIVE – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Alright. Time is about one and a half hours before midnight. Now, we'll begin our advance. My idea was to blend in with our surroundings, to keep us even more hidden. So we covered our armor in mushrooms and fungi. Gopher-boy's wearing a mushroom cap on his head, and I've attached some to the horns of my helmet.

We look like giant, walking mushroom people.  
…I know what I'm going to be next Halloween.

We've begun to sneak to the wall. The cover of the mushroom foliage is good, but since the guards are so high up, they won't see us if we're right up against the outer wall.

We're at the wall. Now, we'll head over to the hangar gates. The landing pad's used for land vehicles like trucks and tanks, as well as aircraft. Once we're at the gates, we'll sneak to the hangar itself, and we'll find a way inside.

…

We're up against the hangar building now. Luckily, the moon's at such an angle that the shadows of the walls themselves can keep us hidden. Now, all we have to do is find a back door, and get in.

There's a door. It's small, but it's a door. We're able to open it without too much noise; just a simple lock-pick worked!  
I'm so glad I learned to pick locks. I mean, the first time I did it was a complete accident! Heh heh heh! But apparently, my secret exercises in the lock-picking arts have paid off.

We're in what appears to be a boiler room. This must be where they get the heat for the aircraft; it's important to always have some heat in your aircraft hangar, so that nothing freezes to the planes. Luckily, we can make our way to the main room from here.

"_We'll take the stairs. Gopher-boy, stick close to me."_

A few minutes have passed. We're out of the boiler room, and we've just entered…the hangar! Yes, we're here! And even better, nobody to stop us.

"Congratulations, Chaos marines."

I hear a voice from our left. The lights suddenly turn on, and there we see…a battle sister.  
She looks like she's more anti-social than the rest. Her black hair is short and cut in jagged pieces like a boy's. Her skin is white, and her armor is brown and gold. She has orange eyes with small pupils, and has a face like a young woman in her 20's, but her cold and uncaring expression tells me she's very different, and not in the good way. She looks fairly built – not too thin, but not chubby either –, and she has a chainsword in one hand, and a bolt pistol attached to her waist.  
To me, she resembles a snake – a poisonous viper, coiled and waiting to strike. That's the type of vibe I get from her.

She's staring at us with those cold eyes, like she's going to kill one of us at random. "I'm called Kat," she says. "I'll admit, for a while you had me curious. But now I know why you're here, traitors."

This has to be our Imperial spy. This is the one who's been following us all this time. I reply, "Well then, Kat, what are we here for, if you're so certain?"

She turns to me, and answers, "You're not here for the civilians or for the church. You're here to take the whole system. Another Imperial world for the _glorious_ army of Chaos, right?"

I laugh out loud. "If that's your conclusion after trailing us for almost a couple of weeks, then you're not as intelligent of a spy as I thought you were! Ha ha ha!"

Both she and my apprentice turn to me, looking quite surprised. They both asked simultaneously, "You knew?"

I shook my head chuckling to myself. "Girl," I replied smiling, "I've been in this business for well over a century, ok? You think I haven't run into a couple before?"

"How long did you know, exactly," Gopher-boy asks next, "and why didn't you bother telling us?"

"To be honest, I dunno. I guess I was just curious to see what Kat was planning on doing, y'know?"

The girl straightens up and says, "Ok, let me get this straight. I've been tailing you two chaos marines and that alien for over a week, trying to figure out how and why you came here, and you're telling me that all this time, you _knew_ I was there?"

I nodded. "Pretty much, yeah."

She pauses for a moment, taking in the shock. Then she shakes herself out of it, and returns to her previous demeanor. "Well it doesn't matter if you knew or not," she boldly proclaims. "Because you're here, with no backup, and I'm here, with the rest of our Order. And we can pummel you into dust."

This time, Gopher is the one who responds. "So what, are there eight other people here?"

This makes her angry. "NO, I mean the rest of my chapter! There are over 30 of us on this base alone!"

"You mean 30 aside from the two strike teams that are searching in the city right now?"

Kat starts to reply, but then she stops. After a moment or so, she asks, "…how did you –"

"– We know," I interrupt, "because we saw the transports with your forces heading that way on our way over here."

"And," continued Gopher-boy, "We know that they'll be there for a few days, because they like to be _so thorough_!"

"By which time," I concluded, "we will already be off this planet, and out of reach, if only temporarily."

The spy paused for a moment; then she began to nod, and commented, "I'm impressed. You seemed to have thoroughly thought all this out."

"We were going up against the Sisters of Battle," I replied. "We had to, to keep up with you all."

At that, she clapped her hands together, and said, "Aww, how sweet!" Then she performed an emotional 180, drawing out the bolt pistol from her waist and pointing it at me. She then stated, in her cold, "usual" voice, "Alright, bud, enough small talk. Why are you here, how'd you get here unnoticed, and what are you planning on doing?"

Calmly, I replied, "To answer how, it involves me slaying a Necron Lord and activating a warp drive inside it."

"At least, that's our theory," Gopher quickly inserted.

"For why," I continued, "We've become separated from our brothers back home, and we're trying to find a way back. As for what we're doing, we're planning on borrowing one of your ships to take us to this planet's moon."

She looked at me unconvinced. "Somehow, I don't believe you, traitor."

I sigh and walk forward, making her jump back. "Alright, Kat," I say, "how about this? Are you an honorable woman?"

She grips her gun tighter; "What do you mean by that?" she replies icily.

"Would you just drop the sexist crap already? I'm trying to be serious here; are you an honorable woman? In other words, do you keep your words, or do you break your promises?"

She relaxed slightly, and replied, "…I keep 'em. Why?"

At this I breathe easily, relieved that she finally got it. "Good. Well, how about we do this?" I draw Malum from my back, and hold the sword in her direction. "We'll have a duel," I suggest. "Swords only, one-on-one. If I win, then you let my friend and I take, uh…that Thunderhawk ship over there."

"WHAT?"

"Hey, you're not going to miss it! You've already got one, and from what we've seen of your forces here, you don't have enough people to need two of them," I shout back. "Besides, from the looks of it, it's just been sitting here in this garage you call an aircraft hangar ever since you got it."

She stopped, knowing she couldn't argue that fact. She remained silent for a while. When I was sure she wouldn't talk, I interjected.

"Come on, Kat, be serious. If I win the duel, then my friends and I will take the Thunderhawk, and we won't bother anyone here, ok?"

She looked at me like I had just told the world I was a burrito. "Stop joking around, would you?" was her response.

"I'm not joking. If I win, then we won't bother you or anyone else here."

She begrudgingly nodded. She then asked, "…so what do I get if I win?"

I smile, straightening up. "If you win," I began, "then you keep the Thunderhawk, and you can have the honor of telling your friends and superiors how Kat single-handedly saved her base from destruction by a former Iron Warrior. How's that?"

She mulled it over. "…if I win, then we keep the Thunderhawk and I get to kill you. But if you win, you take the Thunderhawk, and never bother anybody here again…"

"So, do we have a deal?"

She looked at me, smiling devilishly. "I accept," she says, dropping the pistol. I smile, and prepare to fight. "Normally I'd object to using chainswords," I comment, "but I don't see anything better around here, so I'll let it slide."

"Prepare yourself!" Kat yelled, charging at me, beginning the duel.  
I elegantly side-step her charge, expecting her to struggle to stop. Instead, she spins around and swings the sword at me.  
I back away, and reply with a swing from Malum. She tries to stop, but she can't get a footing; I take advantage of this by swiping my sword at her legs (_flat-side, of course; I don't want to kill her!_) and tripping her up.  
She does fall, but rolls away from me and gets back up, holding the chainsword like it's a rapier. I hold mine the same, and begin to fence with her. She tries to attack, but I just block and parry her blows.

Then, I swing back, and make her defend; once she does, I switch my fighting style for something more fluid and balanced. I spin with my previous attack, and deliver another swing, which she deflects. At this point, she runs at me, sword ready to strike. I counter with swinging my sword down, breaking her stance and sending her stumbling backwards. I take this opportunity to attack again, this time pushing her back farther with my attacks. She blocks them, but she struggles to gain her balance to counter. Finally, she tries to swing, and I side-swipe the chainsword, sending it skidding away towards one of the fighters. I finish by tripping her again, and pointing the sword to her face in that awesome duel pose.

Kat's sitting up, reclining on her arms, while I stand with sword in hand. There's a pause, and we both know who won.  
She looks at me, waiting for something. I speak calmly: "The duel is mine."

"Kill me."

I'm surprised at this. (_Gopher was in the Thunderhawk, so he didn't hear._) "Why," I ask.  
"I've lost. So kill me. Finish it."  
Now I see what she's getting at. I nod. I raise my sword…

…put it back in its sheath, and pat her on the head. As I'm walking away, I hear a yell. "Don't run away, you idiot! KILL ME!"

I look back at her with a serious look, and calmly ask, "Why?"

She gives me an emotional response; "Kill me right now, or else I will swear to hunt you down until I kill you."

I pause, letting her think I'm mulling over the choices. Finally, I smile and reply, "Then in that case, Kat, I look forward to meeting up with you again."

This really gets Kat angry. She looks angrily up at me, but I'm already on top of the Thunderhawk as it lifts off. Over the roar of the turbines, I can barely make out, "I'LL KILL YOU, IRON WARRIOR! YOU HEAR ME? I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN AND KIIIIILLLL YOOOOOUUUU!"

I wave goodbye while smiling. I just love messing with people!

– – – – – – – – – – – NEURAL LOG DE-ACTIVATED – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

(_Entry resume_)

Well, today was a pretty good day. Apparently, we found some droid brains in the cargo hold of the Thunderhawk which have been programmed to auto-pilot the ship. So we reprogrammed them, and now we have a fully operational ship on our hands. We picked up KFC after our fight at the Battle Sister's base, and loaded up our vehicles.

Y'know, I think maybe we could keep this aircraft. We'll have to find a name for it, though…but I suppose we can focus on names after we get back home.

Well, farewell to Naron II; next stop, the moon of Naron II! Yaaay!

…

End of Chapter 12

A/N: So how'd I do? To be honest, I thought of the "Vision from God" scenario as I was writing this. LOL What irony…I start with no idea of what to do, and the idea comes to me when I begin typing. Ha ha ha…

And in honesty, this wasn't my original plan for Kat. My original intent was to have her join in, and be like Tex in _Red vs. Blue_. But when I got to thinking, I figured it'd be more interesting if I made her a rival of sorts. Not a villain, but a rival.

Next time, our trio arrives at the moon of Naron II. What sort of strange and fantastic life forms await them there?  
And what is the secret of the Eldar base? Is it _really_ abandoned?

That and more, in Chapter 13 of _Diary of a Chaos Marine_! Stay tuned!


	13. Day 64 thru 69: The Eldar Base

**Diary of a Chaos Marine****  
By: Danny Pic**

Hello there! Welcome to Chapter 13!

Sorry for the wait; I've been somewhat brain-dead after chapter 12. See, it's problematic, because…well, to be honest I wasn't exactly sure where they'd go after encountering the moon's – oooh, nice try, but I'm not revealing anything. ;)

But anyway, there were a lot of basic ideas, and I had trouble figuring out which one would best work. And now, at last, I have the solution. What is my solution? Find out after you read… CHAPTER 13! WOOOO!

Again, I must stress, **I OWN NUTHIN! ** (Well, aside from the characters I create, and the places that I make up.) **  
Now…**enjoy the madness! 8D

* * *

**Day 64 **

No entry.

…

**Day 65**

Wow…its already been two whole months since I first began this little diary. I'm amazed…it seems so long ago…and so much has happened in that time…

…as soon as we get back home, I'm taking a vacation. A _loooong_ vacation.

Well, so far our little escape operation has been a success. As soon as we got our supplies and equipment loaded into the Thunderhawk, we rocketed out of there. We had a close call when the battle sisters tried gunning us down with AA-guns, but we fortunately managed to dodge their rounds. I'd say we broke the planet's atmosphere a little less than an hour after we launched.  
Once we left the atmosphere and entered near-planet space, our voyage was much smoother. No one tried to assault us or blast us away, no space junk was threatening our transport, no space stations were seen, no wandering meteors or asteroids, no…well, anything. It's been just a smooth, uneventful flight. And that's a good thing, since Thunderhawks aren't exactly built for long-distance space travel.

We've managed to hook up the newly-rewired droid brains to the four crew stations; we rigged this neat little system where we can immediately substitute the droid brains with ourselves whenever we want. If we need to man a specific station – say, the flight controls – for a bit, then we can simply shut off the droid brain there and operate the controls manually. Then, when we're done, we turn the brain back on, and go on our business!

And to top it all off, we've also found some basic machines here – simple service robots, designed for chores and basic functions (i.e., vacuum-bot, dishwashing-bot, air freshener-bot, etc.). Among them are some little robot vacuums which scuttle everywhere, sucking up dirt and gunk like little mice, and a window-washing robot.  
OMG…we could make our own robot maid with these robots! Finally, I won't have to clean up radiator fluid stains ever again!

Anyway, so far our flight has been slow, but safe. As I said before, Thunderhawks aren't built for long-distance space flights; they're mainly used for either ship-to-ship boarding or for inter-station and station-planet flights. They don't have much mobility in space – they do much better in an atmosphere. That, plus the fact that we need to conserve fuel, has led us to use the lazy-man's way to travel – shut off the engines, and let the inertia from lift-off brin you to your destination. Now don't think that this is a slow way to travel – at the moment, we're still travelling well over 4,000 mph from take-off. The only thing that's lengthening the trip is the sheer distance between Naron II and its moon. So we left yesterday in the middle of the night, and right now it'd be about 8:00 p.m. on Naron II, so given our speed and the time we've traveled… that's about 80,000 standard miles we've covered. So at our current speed, I'd give us maybe two to three days to reach the moon's surface, probably 2 and a half days.

Well, in any case, we're on our way. I'll write some more tomorrow; for now, though, I'm going to start thinking some ideas about that robot maid...

…

**Day 66**

Well, today was a pretty uneventful day, by our standards. It's always a bit strange at first, trying to live in zero-gravity, but we're actually adapting fairly well. It's amazing what you can do with a pair of magnetized boots!

Gopher-boy did remember to tie down our vehicles before we left the planet's atmosphere, so that was a good thing. Right now he's preparing himself some lunch of baked fishling fillet, and a side of raw mushrooms. We tried to cook them, but uh…apparently, at over-hundred-degree temperatures, the mushrooms melt, so we couldn't cook them. (_And by melt, I mean like nigh-instant liquification._)

KFC and I are both designing our robot maid. We're taking bits and pieces of the cleaning and service robots we have lying around, and we're re-organizing them into a larger multi-function machine. It'll be an amazing machine – it'll combine the sleek design and fluid mobility of the Tau with the adaptability and other features of human machinery.  
So we're both designing right now. KFC's working on structure and motor functions, while I focus on the arrangement and functions of the individual cleaning tools.  
It will be a thing of beauty…

…

**Day 67**

Our trip is almost complete. The moon is getting closer – I expect us to arrive by mid-day tomorrow!

Work on our robot maid is commencing. We've gotten her head, torso, and her "dress" almost finished. We've decided, for simplicity's sake, to make her a rolling robot; her "dress" hides a tread-drive similar to a tank, with a sensory system inherited from those little mouse-droids to watch where she's driving. That way, she requires less effort to move, and we can use that energy for more functions.  
We've added a fold-out vacuum system, which folds out from her "dress" (_essentially turning her into a smart-vacuum_), and an air filtration system which mimics the human respiration system – air enters through ducts in her head, gets filtered in her torso, and leaves from her back.

…wow…for some reason, I feel like I'm being inappropriate, talking about the robot maid like that. It's kind of creepy…I'll write more later. Chao.

…

**Day 68**

We're nearing the moon now. We're about to start landing; guess our robot maid will have to wait.

– – – – – – –

We're now on the surface of Naron II's moon. Wasn't as difficult as some landings I've survived – we basically pulled what's known as a "Lazy-S pattern" descent, and landed gently on a level cliff, safely away from the edge. A quick scan reveals two things immediately: first, the planet is a grassland planet, and second, we've missed the location of the abandoned Eldar base. SO, as soon as we get ourselves together, then we'll have to lift off **again** and scout around until we find the aliens' base. **Wonderful**…

On an interesting note, from what I've seen of the life here (_which isn't much_), the moon's native live seems to be extremely Earth-like, both in behavior and appearance. If I had to guess, I'll bet this is one of those "Alt-Earths" I've heard about – planets that have fauna and flora that evolved from species that were brought from Terra. There's actually an interesting story behind them; perhaps whenever we get some more time, I'll write more about them. For now, though, I'll mention that this is a pretty interesting find. It's the first time I've seen an Alt-Earth that's actually a moon, much less a moon of a habitable terrestrial planet.

But enough about that – back to the present.  
Since we've landed so recently, we've decided that it'd be logical to get right back inside the ship and take off immediately. The engine's still warm, and nothing's been unloaded, so it'll be more efficient time- and energy-wise on us. Plus, the sooner we can find that Eldar base, the better. So after we do some checks over flight systems, cargo, and fuel supply, then we'll take off again.

…

**Day 69**

No sin of the Eldar base yet. We've covered a good area today – a circular area about three standard miles from our landing site, so that works out to be…da-da-da…about 28 square miles total, so that's a fairly good-sized portion, by air. I've ot a feeling that most of this is just going to be endless flying in circles with no discoveries. Ugh… I'll write when we find something.

– – – – 5 hours later – – – –

Well, we've found it. There it is; it has to be the Eldar Base. And there…a big, curved half-arch, coming from the ground… that's the Webgate we've been looking for. That's our ticket home!

Alright, so here's the plan. Gopher-boy and KFC are going to drop me off near the Webgate, and then fly off to a safe distance. I know the most about how mechanics work (_it's not very much, but it's certainly more than my companions_), so I'm the one who's going to have to go. Once it's activated, I'll set up a timed charge on the gate, so that its circuits and mechanics will be too damaged to function. I hate to do that to such an ancient and beautiful piece of machinery, but we have to prevent anybody from following us, so we can't leave any trails open. If the Imperium got a hold of this Webgate, then it'd be disastrous not only for us and for our chapter, but also for all the Eldar who rely on the Webway for transportation. The only portal the Imperium has is the one in the Emperor's chamber, and that's the _only_ one they should have.

We're nearing the drop site now. On with the Neural Log!

– – – – NEURAL LOG ACTIVATED – – – –

Alright, we're getting low…now!

…

Excellent, landed perfectly. I turn, and see our Thunderhawk blasting away, out of distance. I'll keep in contact with the others with my helmet radio. (_Gottal love that helmet, eh?_)

Well, here I go. Heading toward the Webgate.  
…wow, that thing's huge. I mean, I already knew it was big, it's just…_dang_, that's big!

Alright, I'm at the base of the Webgate now. I'm praying that the gate has some sort of accessible point…  
…aaaand it doesn't, because the Eldar use something called "Wraithbone" to build. And that means I can't hotwire it. Great, how am I supposed to get this gate to work?

_**You ask it nicely**_.

Wait…I didn't think that – that thought was communicated by somebody else! Who's here?  
…wait a minute…hold on, this doesn't look right… There are spikes sticking out of the gate's structure. And there's a creepy cross-shaped structure there adorned with skeletons and thorns.

…I get the feeling that these aren't the good kind of Eldar. Am I right in that assumption?

_**Indeed you are, flesh-bag. Your soul will be a nice offering to Slaanesh.**_

Oh, wonderful…just when I thought it couldn't get any worse…

…

End of Chapter 13

* * *

A/N: So how'd I do? And just so you know, the text which look like _**this**_ are thought-communications from the Aliens which have appeared.

Oh, and about this "Alt-Earth". Yeah, I'll explain more about how that works later on. The general idea is a planet with life forms that evolved from species that humans brought with them. Stau tuned!

Next time, the trap is sprung! Will our heroes make it back home?  
How will the mechanic escape the sadistic grip of…the Dark Eldar?

That and more, in Chapter 14 of _Diary of a Chaos Marine_! Stay tuned!


	14. Day 69 cont: Humiliation Galore

**Diary of a Chaos Marine****  
By: Danny Pic**

Hello there! Welcome to Chapter 14!

Sorry for that mess-up before, everyone. I had exams, and I was tense and frantic, so I put up something that was more like a rough draft for chapter 14. This one'll hopefully be more pleasing. '^^

And uh…if any of you are offended by the performance in this chapter, please forgive me. I don't mean to offend or insult anybody with this chapter.  
I actually only planned to humiliate Chaos itself.

Again, I must stress, **I OWN NUTHIN! ** (Well, aside from the characters I create, and the places that I make up.) **  
Now…**enjoy the madness! 8D

* * *

**Day 69 **_(continued)_

– – – – NEURAL LOG CONTNUE – – – –

Well, this is another fine mess I've gotten myself into. Stuck in a concrete prison cell, waiting for the Dark Eldar to kill me.

Turns out that the humans made two easy mistakes. One, they didn't know that the base wasn't abandoned. Two, they didn't know what type of Eldar held this base.

Apparently, this is not just an Eldar base; it is, in fact, a _Dark_ Eldar base. If you thought the Chaos Marines were bad, then you haven't seen the Dark Eldar. Chaos Marines vary from being totally evil to simply misguided. (_I was a case of the latter._) The Dark Eldar are truly sadistic beings – Eldar which have devoted themselves to the Chaos God Slaanesh, who is also the one who is worshipped by those pervertive and sickening marines of the Emperor's Children legion. The Dark Eldar actually feed on souls, be they human, alien, or themselves.  
The Dark Eldar were driven out of the system, yes; however, instead of fleeing the system altogether, they simply retreated back into the Webway, to their dark city. And now, since the Imperium has mostly left the sector, they're coming back to resume their business.

And it just so happens that I came in a few hours after they came back.

…OF COURSE I GOT CAPTURED! It was, like, one of me against fifty-one of them; what did you think was gonna happen?

Well, now I'm stuck here, trying to figure a way out.

Ah, here comes a guard now. Guess breaking out'll have to wait.

He says he's taking me to be interrogated. I comply, and let him unchain me. So he – OMG, is that a Splinter Pistol?  
I take the gun and start looking at it; the guard starts yelling at me to give it back, but I tell him I'll return it in a bit. Wow, this is such an extraordinary weapon! Monomolecular blades attached to the front and handle, for close-quarters combat. Such a sleek design, with – OMG, it looks like it shoots crystals! Wow, crystalline ammunition! I bet they – OOPS!

…I accidentally shot the guard.  
But it was so cool! The round broke apart into little glowing shards, and created a shotgun effect! They managed a shotgun effect from a pistol! WOW!  
The guard's dead, though, but that's nothing to worry about – collateral damage. I'll just hide him and go back to thinking about how I can escape. Let's see, we'll need a way to get the door unlocked. Maybe we can trick a guard into…opening…

.

…oh, right. It's already…done – OK, so I guess it's on to the next part: retrieve my sword, and then find a way to activate that Webway Gate. Hm…

…it occurs to me that I might need to enlist an Eldar's help. If it's Eldar technology, then it's likely that one will know how to work it.  
Let's look around these other prison cells to see if any prisoners can help…

There's one, chained on the floor in a nearby cell. Another Eldar, but this one I can tell isn't one of the Dark Eldar; she doesn't have the hateful, sadistic appearance or demeanor of them. She (_yes, it's a girl. I can tell_) is dressed in dirty brown rags, and her short, shoulder-length hair is sloppily tied into a downward-pointing ponytail. She has pale skin, and is very thin, like she had been under-fed during her stay in here. She's sitting in the corner of her cell, her feet curled up close to her. I can see chains on her ankles and wrists – she must be a prisoner that the Dark Eldar had brought with them.

"Would you mind helping me out?" I ask her.

She looks up at me, a surprised look on her pale face. She asks, "Would that be ok?"  
"Sure, why wouldn't it?"

"Well, I don't know if you'd want me to help…accidents happen with me…" she replied, looking slightly ashamed.

"That's ok," I said, "nobody's perfect. Accidents happen to everyone!"

"I doubt that other people make as many mess-ups as I do…"

"It's all right. Even if you do, it doesn't matter how much you mess up."

She looks at me confusedly. I finish, "It's whether or not you give up that counts."

The Eldar smiles brightly, but a voice down the hall interrupts: "HEY, YOU!"

I turn and grab the guard's shoulders; for an Eldar, he's pretty short, so he can't reach me with his punches. "Hey, buddy?" I ask. "Listen, I think it's nice that you want to talk with me, but me and my friend here are having a conversation right now, so would you mind waiting for a moment, please?

The guard surprisingly obliged; I have a feeling he was just too confused and surprised to do much else. Whether it was me talkin innocently, me askin him to wait, or me being…well, me, I don't know.

My little Eldar friend was surprised for some reason. Her words were, "F-Friend? I'm…I'm your friend?"

"Sure! I mean, only if you want to be friends."

She looked excitedly at me, like I had just proposed to her or something. "Wow," she said, "I've…I've never had a friend before!"

"Really?" I asked; the thought that someone like this had never had a friend was a bit strange to me. "Never in your _life_?"

"Never in my life. I've always had parents, neighbors, and people whose names I knew, but nobody ever called me 'friend'."

"Well, then it pleases me to be the first."

"Can we hurry this up?" the guard asked, annoyed. "I wanna get this over with, so I can get you back in your cell."

I sigh heavily, and respond, "Fine, since you're sooo eager to interrupt. Hello. How can I help you?"

"Well, you can start by getting back in your cell. Unless you'd rather be sacrificed, in which case I'd gladly oblige," he said, patting a blade on his hip.

"I'd love to," I reply, "but I can't. See, right now I'm trying to get _out_ of here – y'know, the whole "escape to freedom" thin? Yeah, so sorry, wish I could help."

"I'm not asking!" he yells, "I'M TELLING!" He draws his blade and does this awesome sword-swinging move, probably from some ancient style of swordplay that he's spent his whole life mastering.

I just shoot him with the gun. He dies; end of story.

"Alright, now that that's out of the way," I say, "let's get out!" I take the gun, aim it at the cell door, and shoot the lock; the door opens. Next I take the guard's blade and cut through the chains, freeing the Eldar girl. Once again, I ask if she wanted to come help.

She smiled brightly. She then tried to sound "cool" and replied, "Sure. I mean, it's not like I have much choice…"

"If you're going to be travelling with us, then please…don't try to be "cool". Nobody does that anymore."

She blushed, a sheepish grin on her face, and together we left the prison complex.

.

We snuck out of the building, working our way through the alleys and shadows to a room that had various weapons in it. Among them were my sword and bolt pistol. We entered, I re-equipped my weapons, and then walked to a dark place, so that any D.E. around wouldn't see us.

I make sure to turn towards the corner, so that they won't hear me. I whisper into the radio, "Gopher-boy! Respond! It's me!"

"_Master? Thank heavens! Where are you? What happened?_", comes in through my speakers.

"Shh! Quiet down! We made a mistake; this base belongs to the Dark Eldar, and it's not abandoned. They've captured me, but I'm in position to escape. What is your position?"

"_We're in a bit of trouble ourselves, too sir. It seems that the sisters of battle we left behind on the planet have followed us here, and intent to take back their ship._"

The battle sisters are here! Excellent!  
"Listen up, Gopher-boy. You are to pilot the Thunderhawk over the Dark Eldar's base, and position yourself behind the Webgate. Try to get the sisters to follow you; if it works, then they'll stumble straight into the Dark Eldar's base, and they'll be attacked. While the Dark Eldar are busy fighting the battle sisters, we'll escape and get to the warpgate. You pick us up, and we'll try to activate the Warpgate. The Dark Eldar won't know where we'll have gone, and the Terrans won't know how to work it. Understand?"

"_Yes sir! Heading to your position!_"

"Good. Mechanic out."

I hang up; our distraction is set up. Now, all we need is to get to the Webgate, conveniently located on the other end of the Dark Eldar base, and try to activate it and get out of here.  
We'll have to cross the road to the other side of the base; then we can slip and sneak through the shadows relatively unseen. Eldar-girl will go first, since she's lighter and more nimble. There's a group of Dark Eldar just outside, walking away from us, and we don't want to disturb them, so she'll have to be quiet.

Ok, here she goes…

.

…  
…Ok, how do you cause a vehicle to crash into a building _and_ explode just by tripping?

Urgh…well, we're left with only one choice.  
Once when I was a child, I met up with a witch. She told me that witches only followed two basic rules:  
1) Always follow the rules.  
2) If you can't follow the rules, break 'em good and hard.

I intend to apply this wisdom to this situation. If we're going to be found… then we're letting everybody know about it.

.

– in 3rd-person POV –.

The female Eldar stood up, registering the accident that had just happened. She stared in fear at all the Dark Eldar before her. Only one thought was going through her mind: _I messed up_.

Suddenly, a sharp, loud call grabbed everyone's attention: "_LU'AU_!"

All Eldar turned, and were mesmerized at what they saw: an Iron Warrior…dressed in a grass skirt, a coconut bra, and a wide assortment of flowers – on his helmet, around his neck, everywhere. A strange music began to play as he _**danced**_ his way over to the Eldar girl in the middle of the street, And even more, he began to sing…

.

_We're having a __lu__'__au__,_

_A wonderful __lu__'__au__!_

_Everybody will be there;_

_All your friends you will see there!_

_There's going to be dancing,_

_And maybe romancing!_

_Everybody __Hoaloha_

_At the big __lu__'__au__!_

_There'll be some fish and poi,_

_And a piggy that's cooked all night!_

_Pineapple, fine apple!_

_And we'll hula while the moon is bright!_

_We're having a __lu__'__au__!_

_We want to show you how_

_We live it up in Hawaii_

_At the big __lu__'__au__!_

_.  
_

And it was then that, all across the Galaxy, the Dark Eldar, the Iron Warriors, and even the Chaos Gods themselves, suddenly and simultaneously felt a wave of humiliation and embarrassment sweep over them…as if they had all been caught out in public with only their undergarments showing…

The Dark Eldar on the moon of Naron II were both horrified and awestruck at the display they had witnessed; some of them even died of internal hemorrhaging at the sight. But as a result of the performance, they had no prior knowledge of the explosions that occurred a few seconds after the Space Marine had finished…

– Back to NEURAL LOG – 

After the explosions of the missiles came, I grabbed my new friend's wrist and pulled her into the alley we were heading for. The only words she manages to get out are, "Wh…What was _that_?"

"That, my dear," I answer, "was history in the making."

At that, we both ran into the maze of buildings, letting the Sisters of Battle distract the Dark Eldar from us.

.

When we arrived at the Webgate, our friends in the Thunderhawk were hovering nearby with the cargo doors open. My apprentice fainted at the sight of me in my dress. KFC, on the other hand, had trouble speaking through his laughing. He managed to ask, "Wh-What's this?"

I replied the same way: "History in the making."

He then saw the Eldar girl, and forcing himself to calm down, asked, "And who's this?"

"New girl," I replied. "She's helping us escape from here."

I grab her hand, and pull her into the Thunderhawk, just as it lifts off away from the ground. I quickly ask, "Can you get us out of here?"

"I'll do my best," she replies, and puts both hands flat against the floor of the ship, squeezing her eyes shut. I'm about to ask why, when I suddenly see a bright flash, and then back to normal. Our Eldar friend is smiling, and the others are curious. I look out the open cargo bay, and see that we've…teleported…to a new place.

"I hope I got us to the right planet!" the Eldar says.

…

End of Chapter 14

* * *

A/N: That's right, people. I just simultaneously humiliated and embarrassed the Dark Eldar, the Chaos Space Marines, and even the Chaos Gods, with the power of the hula! TOP THAT!

So how'd I do this time? I originally had another interesting idea for this chapter, but I figured with the breakout, and the new girl, and the _lu__'__au_…I figured that was enough events for a chapter, and that one more would just make this chapter unnecessarily longer.

First time playing an Eldar character; yeah, here she's better introduced as a clumsy girl. But she's nice, and she tries to work hard. It's just…she messes up a lot…  
Oh, and BTW, I'm currently looking for names for her, and maybe a few others, too. SO if you have suggestions, be sure to comment or PM me!

Again, if there are any real Hawaiians out there who are offended by this, please forgive me. I'm not trying to make fun of you; I was aiming for the "guy-dressing-like-a-girl" humor. (Please don't shoot me with your super-volcano guns! *crying*)

And if any of you Chaos players out there are offended…  
…uh…  
…Oh, look – a shiny!

Next time, where are we NOW? Is this place any closer to the protectorate?  
Who is this new Eldar Girl? And could she be the key to our heroes getting home?

That and more, in Chapter 15 of _Diary of a Chaos Marine_! Stay tuned!


	15. Days 70 thru 73: Meeting the Family

**Diary of a Chaos Marine****  
By: Danny Pic**

Hello there! Welcome to Chapter 15!

Heya everyone! I'm so sorry I haven't updated this story in so long. T^T I had finals, graduation, summer welcome to college…I've just been super-busy lately, so I haven't had time to slow down and update this story. Please don't be angry with me! *crying and bowing in apology*

Well, in any case, this chapter's finally getting out now. I finally have a name for the Eldar girl, and I'm so glad I didn't have the usual problems I encounter with making the name. ^^

Again, I must stress, **I OWN NUTHIN! **(Well, aside from the characters I create, and the places that I make up.) **  
Now…**enjoy the madness! 8D

* * *

**Day 70 **

Well, fortunately our arrival wasn't at _another_ place where we're hated by the public.

Apparently, our new Eldar friend took us to her homeworld. She's a member of what off-worlders often call "Exodites". Basically, they are Eldar which lead more simplistic lives. They don't travel in space – rather, they stay on the planet, living off the land, in harmony with nature. They're often described as being more "rustic" Eldar.

These Exodite Eldar are more accepting and friendly than their space-faring brethren, so we've become immediate friends.  
(_Which is good for us – it's a nice change of pace from having to sneak in the shadows all the time._)

We were introduced to the village; it's a very homely and friendly place – the type of place where everybody on the street knows your name, and where neighbors actually talk with each other instead of being quiet and isolated.

If I ever retire, I'd love to live in this place…

…bah, who am I kidding? Space Marines can't retire, even if they're renegades.

Today, they showed us around the village, and explained the jobs they did around the village. They're primarily an agricultural group, like most Exodites, but they also indulge in localized ranching. They're not nomadic, but they do hunt once in a while. I would have to say this would be a perfect example of a "Utopian society". If I had to compare them physically, I'd compare them to tribal humans, in society and lifestyle, but living in a medieval village.

…anyway, we're planning on staying until we have a fair idea of our galactic location. Once we confirm our position, then it's a simple matter of…  
…trying to figure a way to travel safely and quickly back home…

…I sense we may be here a while…

.

**Day 71**

Today I decided take time to re-start Gopher-boy's lessons. Well, we haven't had much time to get on those, what with the whole "on-the-run-from-Imperials" thing, but now we have time for that! So today, we resumed teaching!

The lessons this time will concern creation and manipulation of power – in other words, how to make an engine/power source, and use it to operate a machine. Today's lesson involved steam power: how does a steam engine work, and how does one make steam push a piston or turn a wheel, and so on.

First, we covered over creating the steam engine itself. For this, I had him help me make Hiro's famous Steam Ball; essentially, it's a steel ball with two pipes coming out of it, and the whole apparatus is situated over a heating element. It was said to be a close call to inventing the steam engine. The steam ball's purpose, however, was simply to spin around. And I think it served its purpose well, as gopher-boy was pleasantly entertained by the applications.

From there, we moved onto designing true steam engines. We covered many various designs, and I taught him how the design of the boiler, as well as the placement of the heating element, affected the power output. Next, we covered how the pistons connected to the boiler, and how the steam pushed the piston, creating motion.

I've given him a homework assignment due tomorrow. It's probably the most awesome homework one can do – creating a steam engine from scratch, and actually operating it.

.

**Day 72**

I was awoken by loud yells and a trumpeting bellow, which I assumed wasn't supposed to be there, coming from the center of the village. I exited the hut that the village loaned me, without putting on my armor, and went to see what the commotion was about.

Apparently, a wild herbivore had wandered its way into the Eldar village, drawn by their harvest of crops and fruit. The villagers caught sight of it before it managed to get to the food, and had formed a barricade around it. The Eldar men had surrounded it, blocking it off; however, the beast was fairly large – about as big as an Antenoceros* –, and as such still had the possibility of causing some damage, either to the buildings, the food, or the Eldar themselves.

The Eldar here befriended us, and gave us food, shelter, and water… I decided it was time we returned the favor.

I walked through the crowd, heading straight for the beast. Some of the Eldar attempted to warn me away from the danger, but I waved them off, and continue my advance. The herbivore turned, hearing my footsteps, and took a defensive stance; it's possible it was just scared, and thought it was under attack. Its appearance can best be described as a rodent the size of a rhinoceros.

I approached it calmly, and extended my hand in a friendly manner. I said "Hello" to it; the animal seemed to ease up, and started inching towards me. After a few seconds of apprehension on his behalf, I'm stroking him behind the ear, in that sweet spot that most creatures share. The Eldar villagers were surprised, but terrifically pleased. After a while, we convinced the big rodent to return to the forest. One of the Eldar men asked me how I managed to calm a wild animal down like that. I replied, "Beasts only bear fangs at enemies."

After that morning episode, thins started to calm down and return to normal. Gopher-boy's scratch-built steam engine was a success! Passed lesson 1!

Our Eldar friend, however, seems to be a bit of an outcast. I saw her trying to join in a conversation, but the others totally blew her off. One even went as far as to ask her to butt out! The poor thing….she looked real downcast…

.

**Day 73**

Today, I decided to try and cheer up our Eldar friend. I asked if she wouldn't mind hanging out for a while, and her face lit up with one of those 100-watt smiles I've always heard about.

I took her out to a nice little spot, quiet and peaceful, a little bit aways from the village. I asked if she'd mind telling me about the Eldar here; she had no problems with it.

From what I've been told, these Exodites are an old group who've lived on the planet they call "Exodus" for thousands of years. Their ancestors crash-landed on this world over 20 thousand years ago, and they stayed and set up separate villages. Presently, there are around 12 villages on Exodus, theirs included. Over time, the villages fell out of contact with each other, resulting in isolated lands.

She also told me a lot about herself, too. Her name is Elina, and she's about 230 years old.  
(_That's fairly young in Eldar standards._)

She has an older brother who is a "stonesmith", and an older sister who works for the village elder. Her parents are both in education: one's a teacher, the other's an archivist/librarian.

She is the self-described "runt of the litter". Ever since she was little, she's had trouble doing simple tasks. It's not that she doesn't _want_ to do them, it's just…whenever she tries, she messes up. She's clumsy, uncoordinated, and has a terrible sense of direction…well, she says. In fact, she's gradually begun to lose confidence in her abilities as a result.

I've witnessed this first-hand. When her brother asked Elina to bring him a Wraithstone, she accidentally grabbed a regular rock. What caught my attention, however, was her brother's reaction. He got angry, and called her (_quote_), "a useless sack of ****", (_unquote_) and proceeded to tell her how useless she was. That seems to be the regular pattern – her family either lectures her endlessly or puts her down whenever she messes up something. I get the impression that her family is partly to blame for her lack of confidence. Perhaps, if she had a bit more positive reinforcement, she could break this clumsy state of hers.

Hm…perhaps all she needs is a little…"encouragement"…  
…I'll investigate this idea further tomorrow.

…

End of Chapter 15

* * *

A/N: So how'd I do? Setting up the next plot point.

Now here's an interesting bit! I'm trying to figure a little misadventure for Elina and the mechanic to get in, but I'm having trouble deciding what they should do! If you have any suggestions, send a review or a PM, ok?

Also, sorry if it takes me a while to update. It's been a while since I've touch this, and I have to get back into the swing of things, as it were. I'm starting to run lower on ideas with this story, and with college looming in the distance, I'm thinking that I might have to rethink the story in my head.

Next time, what's the mechanic planning? Will things get better for our little Eldar friend? Will Squidward ever win?

That and more, in Chapter 16 of _Diary of a Chaos Marine_! Stay tuned!


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